Sam  Blick's 
Diary 


Sam    Blick's 
Diary 


By  Stephen  C.  Noland 


Harper    &    Brothers    Publishers 
New    York    and    London    MCMXXII 


SAM  BUCK'S  DIARY 

Copyright,  1922 
By  Harper  &  Brothers 
Printed  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

First  Edition 

K-W 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

January I 

February      26 

March      50 

Apr* 75 

May     loo 

June 126 

July     151 

August 176 

September 2O2 

October 227 

November 253 

December 276 


2137450 


Sam  Blick's 
Diary 


SAM  BUCK'S  DIARY 

January 

Jan.  I. — Starting  a  diary  this  date  to  keep  a 
record  of  myself,  family,  friends,  the  weather, 
and  the  neighbors  for  future  reference  in  dis- 
putes about  what  happened  and  when,  having 
been  contradicted  to-day  by  John  Hartman 
when  I  said  the  cold  New- Year's  Day  was  in 
1865,  which,  according  to  him,  is  not  right,  but 
a  year  late,  as  he  says  he  remembers  hearing  his 
father  talk  about  it.  But  he  is  wrong,  as  usual, 
as  I  can  remember  hearing  my  father  say  it  was 
in  '65,  but  I'm  not  saying  much,  as  when  Hart- 
man gets  his  mind  set  you  can't  change  it. 
Anyhow,  I  can  flash  this  diary  on  him  if  he 
starts  an  argument  twenty  years  from  now  aboflt 
how  cold  this  New- Year's  Day  was,  showing 
what  I  now  set  down,  namely,  that  the  day  was 
bright  and  that  the  temperature  never  fell  below 
fourteen  degrees  above  zero.  Hartman  is  stub- 
born in  his  opinions,  but  he  can't  change  my 
mind,  as  I  have  schooled  myself  to  take  a  firm 
stand  on  whatever  I  believe  to  be  true  and  not 


2  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

to  give  in  to  any  man  simply  because  he  has  a 
good  flow  of  words  and  ideas  and  can  talk  longer 
and  louder  than  I  can  and  maybe  offer  to  bet  a 
little  money. 

Jan.  2. — My  wife  and  daughter  talking  at  the 
breakfast  table  about  whether  it  is  worth  while 
to  make  New-Year's  resolutions  and  how  funny 
it  is  the  way  some  people  make  them  and  break 
them,  and  I  saying  it  was  all  right  when  people 
resolve  to  limit  their  expenses  for  the  year  to 
a  little  less  than, the  family  income  and  keep 
the  resolution.  They  pretending  not  to  hear 
me,  but  talking  about  how  nice  it  would  be  to 
resolve  to  say  nothing  but  cheerful  things  at 
breakfast  for  a  whole  year.  I  kept  it  to  myself 
that  I  had  their  goat,  but  I  must  say  now,  as 
Fm  sorry  I  didn't  say  then,  that  they  were  not 
starting  out  very  well  by  talking  around  the 
bush  and  insinuating  that  the  family  needs  a 
larger  income,  when  what  it  really  needs  is  a 
firm  hand  at  the  head  of  its  financial  department. 
This  year  I  intend  to  save  a  little  money  every 
week  and  see  that  the  family  spends  no  more 
than  is  left,  even  if  we  have  to  eat  less  or  perhaps 
even  cut  out  a  few  automobile  trips  next  summer 
when  the  roads  are  decent  again  and  a  man  can 
take  his  car  out  on  Sunday  for  a  look  at  the 
world. 

Jan.  j. — Working  hard  at  the  office  to-day 
and  coming  home  to  a  good  dinner  of  tomato 


January  3 

soup,  thick  T-bone  steak  broiled  medium  with 
a  lake  of  butter  on  it,  baked  potatoes,  half  a  head 
of  lettuce  with  Thousand  Island  dressing,  deep 
apple  pie,  and  coffee — just  what  I  like  in  the  way 
of  a  dinner.  I  felt  fine  and  got  off"  some  good 
ones  that  made  my  wife  and  my  daughter  Ellen 
laugh  till  I  thought  I'd  have  to  let  up,  as  they 
might  get  hysterical.  After  dinner  Ellen  gave 
me  a  good  cigar  Fred  Thomas  left  for  me,  and 
I  topped  the  dinner  off  in  fine  style,  reading 
editorials  aloud  from  the  paper  to  the  family 
and  explaining  them  so  the  family  would  miss 
none  of  the  good  points.  There  ought  to  be 
more  of  this  in  every  family.  Finding  a  mistake 
in  the  newspaper  and  correcting  it  for  them, 
and  Ellen  saying  she  wondered  if  the  newspapers 
ever  made  mistakes  in  the  ads,  as  they  might 
during  the  January  sales,  especially  fur-coat 
sales,  where  the  prices  were  reduced  almost  to 
nothing  as  compared  with  what  they  would  be 
next  fall,  when  a  person  had  to  have  one,  any- 
how. So  I  went  to  bed. 

Jan.  4. — Up  early  and  getting  my  own  break- 
fast and  out  of  the  house  without  waking  my 
wife  and  daughter,  as  I  believe  a  man  should  be 
independent  to  some  extent  about  such  matters 
and  not  afraid  of  his  own  cooking,  even  if  only 
toast  and  coffee,  but  able  once  in  a  while  to  show 
his  wife  and  daughter  that  he  is  not  a  slave  of 
household  routine,  but  a  free  hunter,  going  out 


4  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

every  day  to  capture  the  elusive  dollar  and  bring 
it  home  or  not,  as  he  pleases,  but  hardly  ever  not, 
for  the  family  is  the  backbone  of  the  nation. 
Finding  the  work  in  my  department  at  the  office 
behind,  so  working  all  day  and  late  this  evening 
to  catch  up,  and  home  late  to  find  my  wife  and 
daughter  out  without  saying  where  they  had 
gone  or  what  time  expected  back,  so  getting  my- 
self something  to  eat  in  the  way  of  toast  and 
coffee  and  going  to  bed.  Weather  satisfactory 
and  the  health  of  all  good,  so  that  only  a  pessi- 
mist or  nickel  snatcher  could  complain  of  this 
life,  even  if  I  did  have  to  work  on  Sunday.  I 
suppose  my  wife  and  Ellen  are  at  the  movies,  but 
that's  nothing  to  me. 

Jan  5. — Waking  at  the  first  tinkle  of  the  alarm 
clock,  for  I  sleep  light,  on  the  alert  even  in  my 
sleep,  as  a  man  should  be,  but  letting  the  clock 
ring,  giving  my  wife  a  chance  to  hear  it  and  get 
up  to  get  my  breakfast,  for  I  figured  that  she 
might  have  felt  hurt  by  me  getting  out  so  early 
and  quietly  yesterday  morning  and  want  to 
hop  up  and  ease  her  conscience  by  getting  my 
breakfast  and  sending  me  to  work  with  a  word  of 
cheer  and  encouragement,  which  goes  so  far  with 
a  home-loving  man  who  gets  his  pleasure  out  of 
the  fact  that  he  has  done  his  duty  as  a  man  and 
married  and  bought  a  home  and  dedicated  his  life 
to  keeping  the  bills  paid  and  a  little  laid  by  for 
taxes,  repairs,  and  the  like;  but  she  not  hearing 


January  5 

the  alarm,  likewise  Ellen,  and  I  guess  they  must 
have  been  out  late,  in  which  case  the  least  I  could 
do  was  to  let  them  sleep  undisturbed,  and,  as 
for  myself,  getting  some  toast  and  coffee  and 
out  into  the  crisp  morning  air  to  join  other  men 
going  out  to  do  battle  for  a  living  while  the  women 
languish  in  indolence  at  home.  Going  to  a  show 
and  home  late  to  find  all  asleep. 

Jan.  6. — Hearing  a  noise  last  night  and  asking 
my  wife  if  she  heard  it,  but  she  not  answering,  so 
listening  again  and  discovering  that  it  was  her 
shaking  the  furnace  grates.  The  house  cold,  so  I 
down  to  the  cellar  to  tell  my  wife  to  go  on  back 
to  bed,  as  I  would  get  the  house  warm  in  a  few 
minutes,  it  being  almost  time  to  get  up,  anyhow, 
and  I  telling  her  it  was  a  wonder  she  didn't  wake 
me,  as  it  was  my  business  to  look  after  the  fur- 
nace, and  she  saying  that  from  the  way  I  was 
getting  my  own  breakfast  lately  it  looked  to  her 
as  if  I  was  the  cook  or  maybe  wanted  to  be 
grouchy  and  get  my  breakfast  myself  rather  than 
to  ask  members  of  the  family  to  do  their  share,  as 
they  took  pride  in  doing.  She  back  upstairs  and 
I  building  a  fire  and  pretty  soon  hearing  her  in 
the  kitchen  getting  breakfast,  which  was  probably 
her  way  of  showing  that  she  appreciated  me 
taking  the  furnace  job  off  her  hands  and  she 
wanted  to  do  something  in  return.  To  work,  she 
saying  as  I  left  that  she  supposed  Ellen  got  chilled 
during  the  night  and  I  saying  I  supposed  she  did, 


6  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

too,  if  she  wore  no  more  clothes  than  she  wore 
skating  the  other  afternoon. 

Jan.  7. — A  good  breakfast  of  my  wife's  getting 
this  morning  and  to  work  in  good  spirits.  Meet- 
ing Albert  Jackson  on  the  street  car  and  he  telling 
me  how  he  is  unable  to  hold  his  family  down  to 
his  income  and  they  running  up  the  bills  faster 
than  he  can  meet  them,  so  that  he  carries  his 
family  troubles  around  all  day  with  him  at  the 
office  and  is  losing  his  pep  and  afraid  some  of  the 
younger  men  will  get  his  job.  I  giving  him  some 
good  advice  about  asserting  his  authority  as  head 
of  the  house  and  making  the  family  choose  be- 
tween driving  him  to  an  early  grave  and  scaling 
their  living  rate  down  to  something  within  reason, 
as  I  have  done,  beginning  the  first  of  the  year; 
not  that  I'm  broke  now,  but  a  man  always  likes 
to  have  a  little  put  by.  His  daughter  Beatrice 
and  my  daughter  are  together  a  good  deal  and  I 
figure  Al  won't  lose  me  anything  by  praising  me 
at  his  house  so  Beatrice  will  maybe  say  something 
to  Ellen  about  it.  Working  hard  all  day,  and  in 
the  evening  taking  my  wife  to  a  musical  show, 
we  needing  some  new  records  for  our  singing 
machine. 

Jan.  8. — My  wife  and  Ellen  both  up  for  break- 
fast this  morning  and  bright  as  could  be,  showing 
they  must  feel  that  I  am  doing  the  right  thing  in 
deciding  to  save  money  this  year,  both  even  kiss- 
ing me  good-by  and  Ellen  telling  me  not  to  work 


January  7 

too  hard  at  the  office,  as  the  work  may  be  heavy 
there  from  the  fact  that  I  worked  last  Sunday, 
and  the  temptation  to  overload  a  willing  horse 
must  be  great,  and  not  to  let  myself  be  imposed 
upon.  She  needn't  worry  about  her  dad,  as  I 
can  take  care  of  myself,  but  it  certainly  makes  a 
man  feel  right  to  start  off  to  work  with  a  pat  on 
the  back  from  the  women,  who  are  staying  at 
home  wearing  themselves  out  with  a  monotonous 
round  of  household  duties,  as  my  wife  and  Ellen 
are  doing,  now  that  Ellen  is  staying  at  home  to 
help  her  mother  until  she  rests  up  after  finishing 
school,  which  she  did  last  June.  Doing  my  share 
of  the  work  at  the  office  all  day  and  home  to  as 
good  a  dinner  as  ever  I  sat  down  to,  and  com- 
plimenting my  wife  and  Ellen  on  it,  and  they 
saying  it  is  no  trouble  at  all  to  cook  for  a  man  who 
knows  good  food  and  is  generous  with  his  praise. 
Jan.  9. — My  wife  and  Ellen  sending  me  to  work 
in  fine  spirits.  On  the  street  car  meeting  Albert 
Jackson  again,  and  he  saying  my  economy  pro- 
gram for  the  year  must  be  a  winner,  as  he  heard 
I  was  in  the  market  for  a  fur  coat  for  my  daughter 
Ellen,  who  told  his  daughter  that,  while  my  mind 
was  not  made  up,  it  was  headed  in  the  right 
direction  and  no  doubt  I  would  see  the  true 
economy  of  a  fur  coat,  which  lasts  for  years,  and 
it  would  appeal  to  my  sound  business  judgment. 
I  keeping  still,  as  it  will  do  me  no  harm  to  have  a 
fellow  like  Jackson  blowing  around  about  me 


8  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

buying  a  fur  coat  for  my  daughter,  as  I  am  known 
to  be  conservative  in  money  matters  and  people 
will  think  I  am  stepping  up  in  the  world,  which 
is  not  far  from  the  truth.  Another  good  dinner 
and  my  wife  out  in  the  neighborhood  to  talk  about 
our  neighbor  on  the  east  selling  his  house;  so 
Ellen  and  I  to  the  movies,  and  Ellen  trying  to 
persuade  me  to  buy  myself  a  new  overcoat,  as 
the  worst  of  the  winter  is  before  us,  but  I  saying 
that  mine  is  good  enough,  which  I  am  right  about. 
Jan.  10. — Getting  paid  to-day  and  finding  $10 
more  than  usual  in  my  envelope,  making  $85  a 
week,  which  is  something  like  what  a  man  that's 
been  with  the  firm  for  twenty-five  years  ought  to 
get,  also  a  note  from  the  chief  saying  he  was  sorry 
the  raise  had  not  been  approved  in  time  to  come 
through  the  first  of  the  year,  when  it  should 
have.  This  makes  $500  this  year  that  I  had  not 
counted  on,  and  if  I  tell  the  folks  at  home  they'll 
want  to  spend  at  least  $1,800  on  the  strength  of 
it;  so  mum's  the  word  for  me,  but,  just  to  cele- 
brate, calling  Ellen  up  and  saying  to  meet  me  for 
lunch,  and  she  coming.  Then  to  look  at  the 
windows,  and  I  suggesting  offhand  that  we  look 
at  some  coats,  as  she  seemed  to  be  interested. 
Going  into  a  place  where  the  clerk  said,  "Have 
you  decided  to  take  it?"  and  Ellen  explaining 
that  she  and  her  mother  had  looked  while  out 
shopping  the  first  of  the  week;  so  I  looking  it 
over  and  paying  the  $249  as  a  good  business 


January  9 

man  should,  as  there  is  nothing  in  holding  out 
on  a  good  investment,  likely  to  last  some  years 
and  save  money  in  the  long  run. 

Jan.  ii. — Doing  chores  around  the  house  and 
then  rousing  Ellen  and  her  mother  out  in  time  for 
a  good  breakfast.  All  to  church,  Ellen  walking 
between  us  and  looking  like  a  million  dollars  in 
her  coat,  which  I  helped  her  off  with  in  the  church 
and  laid  across  the  pew  back  so  the  lining,  which 
looks  like  another  million  dollars,  would  show  up 
well.  Meeting  the  Jacksons  after  church,  and  I 
could  see  from  the  way  Al  acted  that  he's  a  little 
sore  because  I  made  good  on  the  coat  proposition; 
but  I  hope  he  won't  give  in  to  his  daughter  on 
same,  because  a  man  in  his  position  cannot  afford 
to  be  bullied  by  his  family.  He'd  better  wait  till 
he's  doing  a  little  better,  when  he  can  afford  to 
buy  the  best  on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  surpris- 
ing the  family  and  getting  a  lot  of  satisfaction 
out  of  giving  them  some  pleasure.  Fred  Thomas, 
the  young  fellow  that  has  been  around  here  so 
much  lately  to  see  Ellen,  staying  so  late  I  had 
to  knock  a  chair  over,  which  hint  he  did  not  take, 
and  my  wife  telling  me  to  take  up  the  matter  of 
hours  with  Ellen  to-morrow. 

Jan.  12. — Getting  a  note  from  the  chief  this 
morning  telling  me  to  lay  off  five  clerks  in  my  de- 
partment, and  believe  me  I  made  short  work  of 
the  worst  loafers,  the  ones  that  have  been  holding 
out  on  me  when  I  needed  them  the  most.  Hardly 


io  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

had  I  passed  the  word  out  till  most  of  the  others 
humped  to  the  job  as  if  their  lives  depended  on 
it.  One  fellow,  a  clerk  named  Scott  Lowder, 
telling  me  he  was  a  sick  man  and  would  commit 
suicide  if  I  laid  him  off;  so  I  kept  him  and  will 
watch  him,  as  he  has  been  a  flat  tire  for  some 
time  and  looks  sick  all  right.  Laying  off  a  girl 
then,  but  she  crying  and  saying  she  expects  to  get 
married  in  the  spring  and  must  have  clothes, 
which  she  can't  buy  unless  she  works,  so  laying 
off  a  desk  lizard  that  shoots  craps  during  working 
hours,  as  he  had  no  excuse.  Home  to  find  that 
Ellen  was  going  to  the  theater  with  Fred,  so 
not  saying  anything  to  her  about  Fred  staying 
late,  as  a  man  should  use  judgment.  Polly  talk- 
ing about  the  house  next  door  being  sold  to  a 
middle-aged  man  named  Walker  and  his  young 
wife  just  come  to  town  from  the  East,  he  an 
executive  in  a  new  factory  recently  established 
here. 

Jan.  Jj. — Getting  my  own  breakfast  this 
morning,  the  morning  being  cold  and  the  house 
chilly,  and  there  is  no  use  of  getting  my  wife  and 
daughter  up  in  a  chilly  house  just  to  get  a  man's 
breakfast.  At  the  office  all  day  and  looking  for- 
ward to  a  dull  evening,  but  Harry  Vickers,  a 
neighbor,  phoning  to  know  if  I  cared  to  sit  in  on  a 
little  penny-ante  game  and  I  consenting,  for  it 
does  a  man  no  good  to  turn  down  an  invitation 
from  a  neighbor  like  that,  especially  as  a  man  can 


January  n 

sit  in  on  a  harmless  game  like  that  and  play  close. 
So  playing  along  easy  and  33  cents  to  the  good 
when  the  phone  began  to  ring  and  so  many 
husbands  having  to  leave  that  the  game  broke 
up,  and  I  home  to  find  Fred  Thomas  here  and 
telling  him  about  winning.  He  saying  rhum  was 
the  game,  so  we  getting  into  it  for  a  cent  a  point, 
as  a  man  should  do  the  right  thing  by  his  daugh- 
ter's friends.  Ellen  going  to  bed  and  we  playing 
till  I  A.M.,  and  I  finding  him  all  right,  I  winning 
$1.15  cents  from  him. 

Jan.  14.. — My  wife  asking  Ellen  at  the  break- 
fast table  what  time  Fred  left  last  night  and  Ellen 
saying  she  didn't  know,  as  he  was  still  here  when 
she  got  tired  playing  audience  to  a  rhum  game 
and  went  to  bed.  This  leading  my  wife  to  talk 
about  what  would  the  neighbors  say  if  they  saw 
him  hanging  around  here  till  all  hours,  probably 
starting  talk  about  Ellen  being  engaged,  which 
remark  got  Ellen's  goat,  as  naturally  it  would  to 
think  of  a  girl  her  age  thinking  of  getting  en- 
gaged for  several  years  yet.  I  was  tempted  to  say 
something  about  how  long  he  hung  around 
Sunday  night,  but  saying  nothing,  as  a  man 
should  exercise  a  little  restraint  now  and  then 
when  around  women  who  are  worked  up  about 
trifles  that  amount  to  nothing,  anyhow.  Home 
in  the  evening  on  the  street  car  with  Bill  Hines, 
a  neighbor,  who  talked  all  the  way  about  a  man 
never  getting  anywhere  on  a  salary  and  he  is 


12  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

making  a  little  on  the  side  selling  oil  stock  to 
friends  who  are  broad-minded  enough  to  know 
it's  a  gamble  and  sporty  enough  to  take  a  chance, 
but  I  not  stopping  the  car  to  buy  any  from  him. 

Jan.  75. — Ellen  rather  cool  about  that  rhum 
game,  so,  thinking  to  square  things  all  right,  I 
hatching  up  a  little  surprise  for  the  family,  and 
calling  up  Fred  and  asking  him  if  he  wanted  to 
take  in  a  show  to-night  with  a  couple  of  girls, 
meaning  my  wife  and  Ellen,  but  he  thinking  I 
meant  girls  and  saying  that  I  must  be  in  worse 
out  at  our  house  than  he  is,  to  be  driven  to  such 
desperate  reprisals,  all  over  an  innocent  rhum 
game.  I  putting  him  right  and  calling  up  my 
wife  and  Ellen  to  tell  them  they  were  to  go  to  a 
show  to-night,  which  they  accepted,  and  then 
calling  Fred  up  again  and  telling  him  to  meet  us 
in  the  lobby,  as  it  was  all  right,  and  getting  four 
tickets.  The  plan  didn't  work  well  and  my  wife 
and  I  had  to  sit  between  Ellen  and  Fred  at 
Ellen's  request,  and  when  we  started  home  Ellen 
asked  Fred  if  he  was  still  here.  When  we  got 
home  the  furnace  was  nearly  out  and  there  were 
some  chores  to  do  around  the  cellar  till  by  the 
time  I  got  through  my  wife  and  Ellen  were  in 
bed  and  we  had  no  chance  to  talk  about  the 
mistake  somebody  had  made. 

Jan.  16. — Getting  my  own  breakfast  this 
morning,  which  is  not  a  bad  thing,  as  a  man 
never  knows  what  will  happen  and  should  be  able 


January  13 

to  take  care  of  himself.  Seeing  Al  Jackson  on  the 
street  car  and  he  saying  I  had  got  him  in  bad  on 
the  fur-coat  business,  because  his  daughter 
Beatrice  had  to  have  one  or  die  of  shame,  and  if 
he  doesn't  get  it  for  her  she  is  going  to  give  up 
her  job  in  the  public  library  and  go  to  work  in  a 
box  factory  where  she  can  earn  some  money.  I 
came  back  with  a  hot  one,  saying  it  was  a  good 
thing  she  didn't  have  a  friend  with  a  couple  of 
limousines,  and  he  saying  he  guessed  they 
managed  to  enjoy  life  at  their  house  as  they  went 
along  and  he  was  going  to  see  that  she  had  the 
coat  to-day,  as  she  was  going  to  a  dance  to-night 
with  Fred  Thomas.  I  saying  nothing,  as  a  man 
should  use  judgment  in  a  delicate  case  like  that. 
Home  in  the  evening  to  find  Ellen  doing  tatting, 
which  I  said  was  pretty,  she  replying  that  she 
was  glad  it  was,  as  no  doubt  she  would  have  to 
earn  her  living  that  way  in  her  old  age.  My  wife 
and  Ellen  to  the  movies,  I  deciding  to  stay  at 
home  and  figure  on  what  it  will  cost  me  to  have 
the  car  overhauled,  the  weather  looking  like 
spring. 

Jan.  17. — Getting  my  own  breakfast,  and,  this 
being  pay  day,  calling  up  Fred  and  taking  him 
to  lunch  to  square  myself  with  him,  and  he  taking 
it  all  right  and  telling  me  he  took  another  girl  to 
a  dance  last  night  to  see  if  Ellen  would  get 
jealous,  in  which  case  he  could  figure  that  he  was 
not  permanently  barred  from  my  house.  I 


14  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

hardly  knew  what  to  say  to  that  and  let  him  go 
ahead  and  tell  how  he  and  Ellen  had  planned  to 
go  to  that  dance  for  a  week  and  she  had  backed 
out  over  the  rhum  game,  and  he  had  taken 
Beatrice  on  account  of  her  not  getting  to  go 
much.  Intending  to  say  something  about  it 
in  the  evening,  but  forgetting  it  till  some  fellow 
named  Caldwell  showed  up  to  take  Ellen  to  a 
party,  when  I  thought  of  it  and  asked  him  if  he 
knew  Fred,  but  not  getting  to  find  out  if  Ellen 
was  jealous,  as  her  mother  called  me  to  come  and 
see  why  the  kitchen  sink  was  stopped  up,  the 
reason  being  a  piece  of  newspaper  that  had  some- 
how got  into  the  dish  water,  as  anybody  could 
see  merely  by  looking  at  it.  But,  of  course, 
women  do  not  understand  such  matters.  Read- 
ing the  newspaper  all  evening  and  figuring  out  my 
income  tax,  as  I  shall  have  to  fill  out  the  blank 
soon,  which  is  one  of  the  drawbacks  of  getting 
on  in  the  world. 

Jan.  18. — Ellen  acting  sort  of  absent-minded  at 
the  breakfast  table,  so  I  cheering  her  up  with  a 
remark  that  not  to  worry,  as  Fred  was  probably 
a  good  fellow,  but  not  worth  worrying  about, 
being  perhaps  like  most  other  fellows,  attracted 
as  much  by  her  pretty  clothes  and  comfortable 
home  as  by  anything  else.  This,  however,  being 
a  little  mistake  on  my  part,  as  she  immediately 
said  she  would  not  stand  for  such  abuse  in  her 
home,  Fred  having  been  at  the  party  last  night 


January  15 

and  been  very  attentive,  even  bringing  her  home 
while  that  Caldwell  fellow  was  looking  for  his  hat 
and  overcoat,  which  were  lost  some  way  or  other, 
and  Fred  was  all  right  and  a  dinger  if  only  not 
misled  by  older  people  with  a  mania  for  winning 
a  few  pennies  at  a  card  game;  so  I  to  shovel  the 
snow  off  the  walks,  about  a  foot  having  fallen 
overnight.  Who  should  show  up  but  Fred,  say- 
ing he  had  come  over  to  go  to  church  with  Ellen, 
as  no  doubt  my  wife  and  I  would  not  care  to 
venture  out  in  the  storm,  but,  as  the  storm  was 
over  long  ago,  I  finally  argued  my  wife  into  going 
with  them,  making  things  all  right. 

Jan.  ig. — Ellen  getting  breakfast  for  me  this 
morning  and  singing  around  the  house  like  a 
wren  back  for  the  summer.  It  certainly  does  a 
man  good  to  be  able  to  doll  his  family  up  so  they 
are  happy  all  the  time,  even  the  daughter 
getting  up  bright  and  early  Monday  morning  to 
get  her  father's  breakfast,  knowing  that  he's  able 
to  get  his  own.  Her  mother  down  just  as  break- 
fast was  ready,  and  asking  what  was  the  matter, 
did  she  have  insomnia,  but  Ellen  ignoring  the 
question,  probably  thinking  that  her  mother  was 
a  little  jealous  from  being  a  little  late  in  getting 
her  husband's  breakfast  and  having  some  one 
else  getting  all  the  pleasure  out  of  it.  Working 
all  day,  and  in  the  evening  figuring  what  I  am 
going  to  do  with  the  money  I  am  going  to  save 
this  year.  Nothing  risked  nothing  gained,  as  they 


16  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

say,  and  I've  found  out  that  a  man  never  gets 
anywhere  on  a  salary  and  must  look  around  for 
something  good  and  use  his  head. 

Jan.  20. — Ellen  getting  the  breakfast  again  this 
morning,  and  she  and  her  mother  sending  me 
away  to  work  in  fine  spirits,  which  is  good  for  a 
man,  as  there  is  nothing  like  a  friendly  pat  on  the 
back  when  you  are  setting  out  for  your  daily 
struggle  for  the  dollar.  But  that  fellow  Lowder, 
who  said  he  would  commit  suicide  if  I  fired  him, 
worrying  me  to-day.  He  came  to  me  with  a 
sealed  envelope,  saying  to  keep  it  and  not  to 
open  it  unless  something  happened  to  him,  as  was 
likely,  for  the  wages  of  sin  is  death,  and  a  lot  of 
other  bunk  like  that,  which  made  me  suspicious, 
as  he  looks  and  acts  like  a  sick  man.  I  trying 
to  get  him  to  go  to  the  company  doctor,  but  he 
wouldn't.  Asking  him  to  come  out  to  the  house 
to  dinner,  as  he  lives  alone  in  a  furnished  room 
and  eats  wherever  he  happens  to  be,  but  he  saying 
never  mind,  he  was  past  that  stage.  Ellen  having 
a  lot  of  friends  in  for  bridge,  and  from  where  I 
was  sitting  reading,  down  in  front  of  the  furnace, 
I  could  hear  Fred's  laugh,  indicating  that  I  am 
square  with  Ellen  again.  I  know  how  to  handle 
them. 

Jan.  21. — Bad  weather  to-day,  the  night  turn- 
ing warm  and  a  rain  coming  to  make  slush  out 
of  the  snow  and  make  the  walking  bad,  and  things 
go  wrong  at  the  office,  as  they  do  in  bad  weather, 


January  17 

the  clerks  being  affected  by  the  weather,  which  I 
guess  is  why  they  are  clerks,  as  the  weather  never 
affects  busy  men  with  minds  on  something  besides 
bad  weather  such  as  we  had  all  day,  cloudy  and 
damp,  so  that  a  man  could  hardly  help  wishing 
spring  would  come,  also  looking  out  the  window 
and  being  thankful  he  had  an  inside  job  and  did 
not  have  to  go  out  and  work  in  the  slush  and  rain 
all  day.  Figuring  on  what  I  am  going  to  do  with 
the  $500  I  will  get  this  year  over  and  above  what  I 
expected  to  get,  and  seeing  that  I  am  getting  to  a 
place  where  a  man  must  not  figure  too  close,  but 
must  think  in  big  figures  and  turn  a  little  of  his 
salary  into  something  likely  to  produce  a  hand- 
some return.  An  oil  circular  coming  through 
the  mail  stating  how  new  oil  ventures  are  mostly  a 
gamble  and  now  appeal  only  to  men  and  women 
with  enough  money  to  risk  in  large  figures  for 
handsome  returns. 

Jan.  22. — No  weather  to-day  to  speak  of,  the 
weather  being  clear  after  the  rain,  and  cold 
enough  to  freeze  what  is  left  of  the  slush.  My 
wife  up  to  get  my  breakfast,  and  a  good  one  it 
was,  reminding  a  man  that  he  can  do  his  part  in 
the  middle  of  the  day  if  he  is  fed  well  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  day,  and  the  end,  when  he  comes 
home  worn  out  from  work  and  worry  and  desiring 
only  the  peace  of  his  own  fireside.  She  telling 
me  that  she  and  Ellen  are  going  shopping  to-day, 
and  I  saying  by  all  means  shop  while  the  sales  are 


i8  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

on,  and  almost  telling  her  about  my  increase  in 
pay,  but  catching  myself  in  time,  as  a  man  must 
not  tempt  women  to  spend  too  freely.  Lowder 
asking  me  if  I  still  had  that  letter  he  gave  to  me, 
and  I  saying  I  had  but  what  was  the  matter  with 
him,  and  he  said  to  tell  the  truth  he  was  de- 
spondent and  likely  to  do  anything.  I  cheered 
him  up  getting  off  a  couple  of  good  ones  and 
sending  him  back  to  work  feeling  all  right.  In 
the  evening  hearing  about  the  shopping  trip. 
Thinking  some  of  seeing  Hines  about  some  of  that 
oil  stock,  as  a  man  surely  likes  to  see  a  little 
money  coming  in  on  the  side,  especially  if  he  has 
a  wife  and  daughter  to  indulge  in  their  every 
whim. 

Jan.  25. — Getting  my  own  breakfast  and  away 
to  work  in  good  spirits,  as  becomes  a  department 
head,  who  must  be  punctual,  setting  an  example 
for  his  force,  who  make  a  habit  of  being  ten 
minutes  late.  Jim  Wilkins,  who  sold  me  my  car 
two  years  ago,  coming  in  to  see  me  about  a  new 
one,  saying  mine  probably  needed  overhauling, 
and  when  I  figured  what  I  could  trade  it  in  for  on 
a  new  one  and  the  satisfaction  and  prestige  I 
would  get  out  of  a  new  one,  I  could  make  about 
$300  over  and  above  the  expense  of  the  trade, 
but  I  would  have  to  get  my  order  in  right  away  if 
I  expected  to  have  the  use  of  the  new  car  in  the 
spring,  as  the  factory  was  now  closed  down  for 
inventory  and  would  probably  fall  behind  on  its 


January  19 

production  schedule,  but,  of  course,  would  favor 
present  owners  as  against  outsiders  who  are  just 
getting  to  a  place  where  they  can  own  and  drive 
an  automobile  for  pleasure  without  being  talked 
about  among  the  neighbors  for  their  extrav- 
agance. His  line  of  talk  is  good  and  I  can  spare 
the  money  all  right,  as  I  informed  him,  but  a 
man  should  not  buy  on  the  spur  of  the  moment. 
Jan.  24. — A  fine,  bright  day  and  everybody 
at  the  office,  self  included,  working  hard,  as  Fve 
noticed  people  do  when  the  weather  is  good. 
Scott  Lowder  seems  in  better  spirits  now,  show- 
ing that  all  he  needed  was  a  little  sympathy  and 
cheer  from  an  older  person  who  understands 
human  nature  and  has  a  sense  of  humor.  Settled 
for  the  evening  with  my  slippers  on  and  the  paper 
to  rerad,  when  Fred  Thomas  came  and  pretty 
soon  he  and  Ellen  got  ready  to  go  to  the  movies, 
and  just  as  they  were  going  out  the  door  Fred 
said  "better  come  along"  to  me.  I  had  no  desire 
to  go,  as  after  a  week's  hard  work  a  man  likes  to  sit 
at  home  and  rest  through  one  evening,  but  never- 
theless saying  I  would  -go  if  they  would  wait  a 
minute  while  I  got  ready  and  persuaded  Ellen's 
mother  to  go,  too,  but  they  saying  not  to  go  to 
all  that  trouble  and  Ellen  panning  Fred  for  dis- 
turbing me  when  I  was  settled  for  the  evening. 
But  I  was  ready  in  no  time,  having  difficulty, 
though,  in  persuading  my  wife  to  join  the  gay 
party,  as  she  whispered  to  let  them  have  a 


20  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

moment  to  themselves,  but  I  saying  she  is  losing 
her  pep  and  must  get  out  more  with  young 
people.  All  to  the  show,  but  my  wife  and  I  not 
staying  long,  as  she  did  not  seem  to  like  the 
picture  as  the  film  was  about  an  elopement  and 
there  was  a  draught  in  the  theater,  so  home  to 
read  the  paper  and  to  bed,  not  caring  whether 
Fred  liked  it  or  not,  as  a  man  should  not  care 
what  other  people  think. 

Jan.  25. — Ellen  not  down  to  breakfast  when 
my  wife  and  I  ate,  and  the  wife  criticizing  me  for 
not  letting  Ellen  and  Fred  have  more  time  to 
themselves,  as  one  could  plainly  see,  she  said, 
that  Fred  was  interested  in  Ellen,  and  a  girl  has 
a  right  to  look  around  a  little  and  see  how 
different  men  act  under  different  circumstances 
and  for  me  to  show  some  regard  for  Ellen's 
future  and  not  to  tag  along  to  movies  and  the 
like.  She  even  saying  something  to  the  effect 
that  she  was  no  better  off  for  having  jumped  at 
the  first  man  that  wanted  her,  the  same  being 
me,  not  that  she  would  have  chosen  another,  but 
no  doubt  she  would  have  been  able  to  appreciate 
my  sterling  qualities  had  she  been  free  to  pick 
me  from  a  bunch,  as  she  was  urged  to  do  by  her 
parents.  I  came  back  hard  with  something  about 
when  was  Caldwell  coming  out  to  the  house 
again,  so  Ellen  could  see  how  he  acts,  but  it  seems 
that  he  has  been  dropped  along  with  the  boys  who 
used  to  come  here  when  Ellen  was  in  school.  All 


January  21 

to  church.  After  dinner  taking  a  nap,  as  a  man 
should  do  after  a  week's  hard  work,  and  in  the 
evening  reading  a  novel  of  Ellen's  and  to  bed. 

Jan.  26. — Riding  down  on  the  street  car  with 
my  new  neighbor,  Walker,  and  asking  him  how 
he  liked  the  town  and  he  saying  it  was  all  right  he 
guessed,  although  he  knew  little  about  it,  he  and 
his  wife  being  newly  married  and  content  to  stay 
at  home  in  the  evening.  He  surely  waited  a  long 
time  to  get  married,  as  he  is  older  than  I  am,  and 
I  am  married  and  have  a  daughter  that  looks  to 
be  about  the  age  of  his  wife,  but  there's  no  telling 
what  a  man  will  do  once  he  realizes  that  it  is  his 
duty  to  get  married  and  settle  down  to  a  peaceful 
life  with  all  the  comforts  a  loving  family  can 
provide.  Telling  my  wife  about  it  in  the  evening 
and  she  saying  that  she  and  other  women  in  the 
neighborhood  were  to  call  on  the  newlyweds  this 
week  and  would  try  to  make  friends  with  the 
bride,  who  must  have  a  history,  else  why  would 
she  be  married  to  a  man  old  enough  to  be  her 
father?  Talking  about  our  neighbors,  including 
Mark  Pond,  a  widower  of  six  months,  who 
mourns  poor  Mrs.  Pond  all  right,  but  is  looking 
ten  years  younger  on  downtown  food. 

Jan.  27. — Getting  my  own  breakfast,  including 
some  pancakes  made  by  mixing  water  with  a  box 
of  something  on  the  pantry  shelf,  as  directed,  but 
the  direction  being  wrong,  as  I  was  compelled  to 
throw  them  into  the  furnace,  the  same  being  a 


22  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

lesson  on  a  man  confining  himself  to  a  simple  diet 
when  preparing  his  own  meals.  My  wife  rushing 
down  in  her  kimono  just  as  I  was  leaving,  but 
not  in  remorse.  "Sam,"  she  said,  "I  smell 
smoke.  Is  something  burning?"  I  told  her  no, 
it  was  only  the  furnace  and  perhaps  a  piece  of 
toast,  as  will  happen  when  a  man's  trying  to  make 
coffee  and  toast  at  the  same  time  and  wondering 
what  life  would  be  like  if  he  never  had  to  get  his 
breakfast  but  found  it  waiting  for  him  every 
morning  when  he  was  ready  to  go  out  to  his 
place  in  the  world  of  affairs.  Working  hard  all 
day.  Keeping  up  my  interest  in  Lowder,  who 
seemed  to  be  in  low  spirits  again,  recommending 
that  he  seek  the  companionship  of  some  nice 
girl.  Possibly  this  was  the  wrong  thing  to  say, 
he  replying  that  girls  were  a  hollow  mockery. 
Home  to  a  fine  dinner  and  to  hear  about  the 
Walkers,  where  my  wife  called  to-day,  she 
reporting  the  bride  lovely  but  unhappy,  far  from 
home  and  friends  and  merely  a  girl  in  age  and 
experience. 

Jan.  28. — This  morning  a  fine  breakfast  of  my 
wife's  getting  and  away  to  work  in  high  spirits, 
thinking  of  my  finances,  which  are  good,  pro- 
vided I  can  invest  some  money  in  a  more  or  less 
risky  venture  of  some  kind,  like  the  Hines  oil 
stock,  which  may  turn  out  to  be  a  gold  mine,  a 
fellow  like  Hines,  with  lots  of  friends  and  a  good 
business  reputation,  hardly  daring  to  unload  a 


January  23 

lot  of  stock  on  his  friends  if  he  wasn't  pretty  sure 
it  would  pay  big  money  some  day.  Trying  four 
times  to  get  Hines  on  the  phone,  and  every  time 
he  was  out  of  his  office  but  expected  back  soon. 
Asking  the  chief  if  he  knew  a  good  investment 
for  a  man  in  my  shoes,  and  he  saying  the  company 
could  arrange  to  let  me  have  a  little  of  its  stock 
half  a  point  under  the  market  and  to  see  him  later 
about  it.  That's  all  right  for  some  clerk  who 
can't  afford  to  take  a  chance  and  wants  to  play 
close,  but  not  for  me.  In  the  evening  Ellen  and 
Fred  to  a  dance  and  my  wife  and  I  to  a  show,  a 
bright  girl  show  with  good  music,  just  what  I 
needed  after  a  day's  hard  work. 

Jan.  29. — Calling  my  wife  Polly  as  we  sat  at 
breakfast  and  she  blushing  with  pleasure,  as  I 
haven't  called  her  that  in  years,  having  called  her 
mother  since  Ellen  came.  Deciding  to  call  her 
that  hereafter,  as  any  little  thing  a  man  can  do  to 
keep  his  wife  in  mind  of  her  girlhood  is  a  good 
thing.  Calling  Hines  up  and  asking  him  to  have 
lunch  with  me.  When  he  showed  up  he  looked 
fifteen  years  older  and  said  to  me,"  Sam,  it's  sure 
good  to  know  I  have  one  friend  left."  And  I 
saying  he  had  that  all  right,  what  was  hurting 
him  the  most.  He  saying  he  had  the  greatest 
confidence  in  the  world  in  that  stock  he  was  sell- 
ing and  was  as  much  surprised  as  anyone  when 
the  company  blew  up  and  had  no  assets  but  some 
forged  deeds  and  leases.  He  was  knocked  cold. 


24  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Said  he  could  count  the  friends  he  had  left  on  the 
fingers  of  one  hand.  I  saying  nothing  at  the  time, 
but  Hines  got  about  what  he  had  coming  to  him, 
as  he  is  a  salaried  man  like  me  and  old  enough  to 
know  better  than  t©  risk  his  standing  on  shady 
deals  that  might  cost  him  his  job  and  a  new  start 
in  life  at  his  age. 

Jan.  jo. — Polly  getting  my  breakfast  this 
morning,  which  helps  some,  as  no  doubt  a  wife 
is  better  off  for  feeling  that  she  has  started  the 
day  right  by  doing  the  right  thing  by  her  husband. 
Figuring  on  my  income  to-day  and  wondering 
how  I  had  better  invest  what  money  I  can  save. 
I  was  certainly  right  in  passing  up  that  Hines 
deal,  as  at  lunch  I  heard  a  dozen  men  say  he  had 
surely  used  his  friends  rough  and  about  ruined 
his  chance  of  going  into  business  for  himself,  as 
he  was  planning  to  do  when  he  got  hold  of  a  little 
more  capital.  I  said  the  suckers  that  bought 
blind,  instead  of  using  their  heads,  as  I  did,  were 
as  much  to  blame  as  Hines,  and  nobody  saying 
anything.  It  does  a  man  no  harm  to  let  it  be 
known  that  he  has  been  too  smooth  for  a  little 
game  that  looked  all  right  on  the  surface.  One 
man  asked  me  if  I  was  buying  anything  at  all,  and 
I  said  the  only  thing  I  had  in  mind  was  some  of 
my  company's  stock;  then  I  went  back  to  work 
to  let  them  talk.  My  friendly  interest  in  Lowder 
is  bearing  good  fruit,  he  admitting  to-day  that 
he  is  glad  he  has  one  friend  in  the  world.  Happy 


January  25 

to  know  that  I  have  handled  another  matter  with 
good  judgment. 

Jan.  jj. — Polly  and  Ellen  both  up  to  get  my 
breakfast  and  I  returning  the  favor  in  kind  by 
inviting  them  to  have  lunch  with  me  to-day, 
which  they  did,  the  bill  being  $4.55,  or  $5  in- 
cluding the  tip,  which  is  pretty  steep  for  a  man 
on  a  salary  and  with  two  exacting  women  to 
support  and  keep  looking  so  that  he  is  not 
ashamed  to  be  seen  in  public  with  them,  where 
he  is  always  running  across  business  and  lodge 
friends  who  are  shrewd  enough  to  go  a  long  way 
in  judging  a  man  by  the  way  his  family  looks. 
But  they  enjoyed  the  luncheon  and  it  is  over  now 
and  cannot  be  helped,  and  I  also  enjoyed  it,  too, 
except  for  the  outlay,  which  was  not  as  much  as 
it  might  have  been,  but  every  little  spent  means 
so  much  less  toward  getting  a  new  car  in  the 
spring,  as  I  explained  to  Polly  and  Ellen,  as  they 
will  probably  insist  on  having  one,  as  they  say  the 
old  one  is  getting  to  the  point  where  it  looks  old 
and  needs  overhauling.  But  a  new  one  will  do  me 
no  harm,  as  a  man  rises  in  the  esteem  of  his 
friends  when  he  shows  up  in  the  spring  with  a  well- 
dressed  and  happy  family  in  a  new  car.  All  to 
the  movies  in  the  evening. 


February 

Feb.  i. — Fine  weather  to-day  and  all  to  church 
in  good  spirits,  and  afterward  talking  with  Albert 
Jackson,  among  others,  and  he  asking  me  if  I 
lost  much  in  the  Hines  oil  deal,  and  I  saying  no, 
how  much  did  he  lose,  and  he  saying  he  lost  some, 
and  between  what  he  had  lost  and  the  family 
expenses  he  was  hard  hit  and  would  like  to  have 
a  little  personal  talk  with  me  some  day  soon.  I 
told  him  I  was  in  my  office  any  day  and  every 
day,  as  a  man  can't  turn  another  man  down  cold 
on  a  loan  proposition  sprung  like  that  right  in 
church.  In  the  afternoon  Polly  and  I  going 
downtown  with  Ellen  and  Fred,  they  to  the 
movies,  we  to  the  art  institute  to  see  an  exhibition 
of  landscapes,  which  I  like  to  look  over  every  so 
often,  as  a  man  that  is  country  born  has  got 
to  have  some  relief  from  streets  and  buildings 
now  and  then  or  go  stale  inside.  Glad  to  see 
some  American  painters  handling  colors  as  if 
they  are  not  afraid  of  them.  Home  Reeling  a 
lot  better,  resolving  to  see  more  art  exhibi- 
tions from  now  on.  Fred  staying  for  supper, 
and  after  supper  I  read  a  story  aloud  till 

26 


February  27 

I  sort  of  dozed  and,  finding  myself  alone,  went 
to  bed. 

Feb.  2. — Getting  my  own  breakfast  of  toast  and 
coffee,  and  a  good  one  it  was,  too,  and  to  the 
office  to  make  things  hum  all  day.  Glad  to  note 
that  Lowder  is  not  coming  to  me  with  his  troubles 
any  more,  but  is  standing  on  his  own  feet  and  will 
soon  be  all  right.  Al  Jackson  in  to  see  me  and 
telling  me  he  has  to  have  money,  so  I  letting  him 
have  a  hundred,  as  a  friend  indeed  is  a  friend  in 
need,  and  he,  poor  devil,  saying  he  was  happier 
to  know  I  had  faith  in  him  than  to  get  the 
hundred.  Home  in  the  evening  to  a  good  supper 
and  Fred  Thomas  showing  up  with  a  Boston 
terrier  puppy  in  a  shoe  box,  given  to  him  by  a 
friend;  and  as  Fred  had  no  place  to  keep  it,  he 
brought  it  to  Ellen  as  a  gift.  Polly  and  Ellen  both 
asking  wouldn't  the  friend  take  it  back  again, 
but  Fred  saying  it  was  too  late  to  give  him  back, 
I  saying  the  pup  would  stay  at  our  house,  as  we 
need  a  watchdog,  anyhow,  and  I'd  always  wanted 
a  pup.  Naming  the  pup  Pep,  as  he  is  so  full  of 
same,  and  feeding  him  milk  till  he  looked  as  if  he 
had  swallowed  a  baseball.  Spending  the  evening 
fixing  him  a  comfortable  bed  in  the  basement,  and 
at  present  writing  he  is  down  there,  but  wailing 
pitifully,  being  only  six  weeks  old. 

Feb.  j. — After  writing  in  this  diary  last  night 
I  went  down  to  the  cellar  in  my  bathrobe  to  see 
what  I  could  do  for  Pep  to  make  him  stop  crying, 


28  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

and  found  him  out  of  his  bed  and  at  the  top  of  the 
basement  stairs;  so,  taking  him  back  down  and 
drawing  my  steamer  chair  up  in  the  warmth  of  the 
furnace  and  holding  him  in  my  lap,  scratching 
his  head,  he  went  to  sleep  in  no  time.  Not  caring 
to  start  him  howling  again,  so  holding  him  awhile, 
and  dozing  longer  than  I  thought,  when  I  looked 
up  the  basement  was  cool,  so  to  fix  the  fire  and 
feed  Pep  again  and  seeing  by  the  hall  clock  that 
it  was  time  to  get  breakfast.  Leaving  Pep  on  a 
cushion  in  front  of  the  living-room  fireplace,  I 
went  to  work.  Phoning  about  three  o'clock  to 
find  out  how  he  was,  and  Polly  saying  she  let 
him  out  for  air  and  he  ran  away;  so  getting  out 
home  as  soon  as  possible  and  finding  him  in  the 
park  playing  with  some  boys.  Polly  and  Ellen 
to  the  movies,  but  I  home  with  Pep,  as  a  dog  is  a 
social  animal  and  should  not  be  left  alone  in  a 
strange  house  while  a  pup. 

Feb.  4. — Pep  doing  well  enough  last  night.  He 
howled  some,  but  I  let  him  howl,  as  a  man  should 
use  judgment  in  raising  a  pup  and  teach  it  some 
good  habits  at  the  outset,  as  he  would  his  own 
child.  The  weather  cloudy,  with  snow  falling 
now  and  then  all  day.  Pep  is  a  smart  dog.  I 
played  most  of  the  evening  with  him.  He  pulled 
on  a  furnace  glove  till  I  thought  he  would  pull 
his  teeth  out.  As  soon  as  I  let  go  he  lost  interest 
in  the  glove,  being  somewhat  like  some  people, 
liking  the  fight  better  than  the  victory.  Getting 


February  29 

my  own  breakfast  this  morning  and  taking  Pep 
out  for  some  exercise  before  going  to  work. 
Polly  and  Ellen  saying  they  will  give  him  away  if 
they  find  some  one  who  will  take  care  of  him,  and 
I  having  to  give  some  pretty  strong  orders  about 
him.  Buying  a  book  on  the  care  of  dogs  and 
reading  it  all  evening,  but  finding  it  wrong  in 
some  places.  This  dog  will  be  raised  right,  with 
plenty  of  red  meat  to  eat  to  make  him  dangerous 
to  prowlers  and  the  like.  Taking  him  for  another 
walk  in  the  evening  and  rolling  him  in  the  snow 
to  harden  him. 

Feb.  5. — Up  early  and  romping  with  Pep, 
chasing  him  and  he  chasing  me  and  barking, 
waking  Polly  and  Ellen,  Polly  then  coming  down 
and  getting  my  breakfast,  and  we  having  words 
because  I  put  a  saucer  of  milk  for  Pep  on  the  floor 
in  the  dining  room,  she  saying  he  must  eat  in  the 
cellar  or  back  yard  and  that  she  had  no  milk  to 
spare  for  him,  anyhow,  so  I  ordering  her  to  get  an 
extra  pint  a  day  from  the  milkman,  for  if  a  man 
is  going  to  keep  a  dog  the  least  he  can  do  is  feed 
it  right.  Walker,  our  new  neighbor,  away  on  a 
business  trip  and  his  wife  and  Ellen  to  the  movies 
in  the  afternoon  and  his  wife  at  our  house  for 
dinner.  She  a  pretty  girl  with  a  hurt  look  in  her 
big  blue  eyes  and  setting  me  to  thinking  that  she 
ought  to  be  playing  around  with  Ellen  and  her 
crowd  instead  of  married  to  an  old  duffer  like 
Walker.  After  supper  playing  bridge  and  I  telling 


30  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

a  few  stones  to  cheer  her  up,  b&t  she  seeming  to 
enjoy  her  game  more,  being  a  wiz  at  it.  Pep 
sleeping  all  evening  in  front  of  the  fireplace, 
looking  satisfied  with  his  new  home  in  which  there 
is  one  who  knows  what  is  good  for  his  welfare. 

Feb.  6. — Getting  my  own  breakfast  and  Pep's 
this  morning,  giving  him  some  exercise,  and  rid- 
ing down  on  the  car  with  Al  Jackson.  He  asking 
me  if  I  had  a  piece  of  change  to  put  into  an  in- 
vention which  looks  good  to  him  and  a  couple 
of  engineers  with  his  company.  I  saying  I  be- 
lieved not,  what  was  it,  a  nonrefillable  fountain 
pen,  but  he  not  getting  the  point.  He  said  he 
thought  of  buying  a  fourth  interest  in  it  to  help 
the  inventor  get  his  patent,  and  a  salesman  at  his 
office  thought  he  could  market  the  thing.  I  said 
nothing,  but  a  man  as  hard  up  as  Jackson  is  had 
better  stick  to  his  salary  and  spend  his  money 
for  paying  his  debts  and  keeping  his  family. 
Getting  a  brace  of  theater  tickets  for  Ellen  and 
Polly,  I  not  caring  to  go,  as  Pep  might  howl  and 
disturb  the  neighbors.  Having  Harry  Vickers 
and  a  few  neighbors  in  for  a  little  penny  ante.  Fill- 
ing a  full  house  against  Tom  Burrage's  one-card 
draw  and  he  finally  winning  on  four  queens,  I 
saying  that  a  man  should  play  for  the  fun  of  the 
game  and  not  for  a  few  paltry  dollars.  I  showing 
Pep  to  them  and  all  agreeing  that  he  has  the 
points  of  a  good  dog  and  should  take  a  few 
prizes  some  day. 


February  31 

Feb.  7. — This  being  pay  day,  splurging  a 
little  bit  by  getting  Pep  a  blanket,  brass-studded 
collar,  and  a  chain.  He  looks  like  a  million  dol- 
lars in  them,  so  dressing  him  up  in  the  evening 
and  taking  him  for  a  walk  to  the  drug  store  to 
buy  a  box  of  candy  for  Polly.  Polly  still  thinks 
she  will  get  rid  of  Pep,  as  he  is  a  nuisance  in 
the  house  sometimes,  perhaps,  being  only  a  pup, 
but  I  figure  that  with  this  new  outfit  she  will 
take  him  for  a  walk  now  and  then  and  perhaps 
get  attached  to  him.  He  no  longer  howls,  but 
thrives  on  his  milk  and  seems  to  be  glad  he  has 
a  good  home  where  there's  a  man  to  look  after 
his  interests.  Fred  Thomas  out  in  the  evening  to 
take  Ellen  to  the  theater  and  saying  his  friend 
would  surely  be  glad  to  know  that  the  pup  has  a 
good  home,  so  perhaps  Ellen  will  quit  talking  about 
getting  rid  of  Pep.  My  wife  asking  what  present 
I  was  going  to  bring  Pep  next  pay  day.  This 
set  me  to  talking  over  the  January  bills  with  Polly 
and  telling  her  how  we  must  cut  down  expenses. 

Feb.  8. — Out  to  the  garage  this  morning  where 
I  have  the  car  jacked  up  for  the  winter,  as  it  is 
an  open  car  and  we  use  it  only  for  pleasure,  and 
finding  it  in  good  shape  except  for  some  rust 
here  and  there  and  dust  all  over  it.  Polly  and 
Ellen  to  church,  but  I  taking  Pep  for  a  long  walk 
in  the  park,  as  a  man  must  get  out  in  the  open  at 
least  once  a  week.  So  must  a  dog.  Enjoying 
wading  in  the  snow  and  feeling  like  a  boy  again. 


32  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Pep  getting  tired  and  cold,  as  he  is  only  a  pup 
and  is  kept  confined  in  a  warm  house  all  the  time, 
so  I  carrying  him.  A  good  dinner  and  after 
dinner  feeling  a  bit  tired  after  the  long  walk,  so 
lying  down  for  a  few  minutes  on  the  davenport 
in  front  of  the  fire  and  sort  of  falling  asleep.  It 
was  six  o'clock  when  I  wakened,  and  Polly, 
Ellen,  and  Fred  were  having  a  salad  and  cake 
<md  tea  in  the  dining  room.  Ellen  and  Fred  out 
with  friends,  Polly  doing  a  little  work  on  a  dress 
she  must  wear  to  a  tea  to-morrow,  and  I  looking 
wer  my  Bible,  which  is  a  good  habit,  as  a  man 
should  read  at  least  one  chapter  from  the  Bible 
every  day. 

Feb.  p. — Jim  Wilkins  was  in  to  see  me  to-day 
about  a  new  machine,  and  I  told  him  that  I 
looked  my  wagon  over  yesterday  and  she's  a 
good  little  bus  and  just  what  I  need  to  wheel 
the  family  and  dog  around  in  this  summer,  as  I 
am  saving  a  good  deal  of  money  this  year,  with 
a  view  to  having  a  little  fluid  capital  put  by  for 
anything  good  that  may  come  along.  He  as 
good  as  saying  that  I  must  be  afraid  to  spend  a 
dollar  to  keep  the  ball  rolling,  but  I  saying 
nothing,  as  he  is  only  a  business  acquaintance  of 
mine  and  does  not  know  me  well  enough  to 
make  allowances  for  a  hot  one  or  two  I  might 
have  shot  back  and  I  might  have  offended  him. 
Mrs.  Walker,  whose  husband  is  still  away,  at  our 
house  again  this  evening,  Polly  and  Ellen  calling 


February  33 

her  Janet,  so  I  did,  too,  which  made  her  feel  a  lot 
better.  Fred  out  in  the  evening  and  talking  of 
dancing  and  showing  Janet  some  new  steps  and 
dancing  with  her,  then  with  Ellen  to  show  how  it 
went.  I  asking  Janet  if  her  husband  was  a  good 
dancer  and  she  saying  he  didn't  dance.  I  replying 
courteously  that  I  supposed  he  was  too  old  for 
that  sort  of  thing. 

Feb.  10. — Getting  breakfast  for  Pep  and  me, 
both  eating  in  the  kitchen,  as  it  is  warm  there 
early  in  the  morning.  Taking  Pep  for  a  turn 
around  the  block,  then  to  the  office  to  work  hard 
all  day.  Home  in  the  evening  to  find  the  house 
dark  and  chilly  and  remembering  that  Polly 
and  Ellen  were  at  some  tea;  so  taking  Pep  for  a 
walk  and  still  no  one  at  home;  so  finding  some 
bacon  and  eggs  and  potatoes,  which  I  baked,  and 
making  some  coffee.  Getting  an  excellent  supper, 
as  a  man  ought  to  be  able  to  do,  not  get  sore  be- 
cause women  show  so  little  regard  for  the  com- 
fort of  their  families  as  to  herd  around  a  tea 
table  till  all  hours  of  the  night.  Polly  and  Ellen 
blowing  in  after  a  time  and  I  saying  nothing,  but 
reading  the  newspaper  with  Pep  in  my  lap.  After 
all,  there's  no  friend  like  a  dog.  Polly  and  Ellen 
talking  about  what  each  woman  wore  and  how 
most  of  them  showed  little  or  no  taste,  until  I 
took  Pep  for  a  walk  to  get  away  from  their 
talk  and  came  home  and  put  the  dog  in  his  bed 
and  went  to  bed  myself. 


34  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Feb.  ii. — My  dog  and  I  having  breakfast  to- 
gether this  morning  and  I  taking  him  for  a  run 
around  the  block  and  hating  to  go  to  work  and 
leave  him,  as  he  and  I  have  become  great  friends 
and  I  don't  know  how  I've  got  along  without  a 
dog  around  the  house.  Overhauling  my  depart- 
ment to-day  and  rinding  out  where  I  can  save 
company  some  money.  The  last  of  the  January 
bills  for  the  house  paid  and  I  figuring  where 
Polly  will  have  to  cut  down  expenses  if  I  am  to 
put  by  some  money  this  year.  Getting  my 
dinner  downtown  this  evening,  as  a  man  should 
not  be  a  slave  to  home  meals,  and  home  to  find 
the  house  dark,  but  a  note  on  the  living-room 
table  from  Polly  saying,  "We  had  a  good  dinner 
and  have  gone  to  the  movies."  They  must  have 
felt  remorse  because  of  not  being  home  yesterday 
evening  to  get  something  for  me  to  eat,  and  de- 
cided to  be  away  when  I  came  home  this  evening. 
This  suiting  me  all  right,  as  Pep  was  there  with 
bells  on.  Taking  him  for  a  long  walk  and 
spending  the  rest  of  the  evening  reading  a 
magazine,  then  to  bed.  Pep  is  a  good  dog  and  I 
think  more  of  him  every  day. 

Feb.  12. — No  work  at  our  place  to-day,  so 
sleeping  a  bit  late  and  spending  most  of  the 
morning,  after  a  good  breakfast  of  Polly's  getting, 
fooling  around  the  basement  and  the  garage  and 
thinking  some  about  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  was 
a  great  and  good  man.  In  the  afternoon  two  girls 


February  35 

in  to  see  Ellen  and  one  of  them  suggesting  a 
penny-ante  game,  I  never  knowing  before  that 
Ellen  knew  anything  about  poker.  They  getting 
me  in  to  make  four  and  I  going  easy  on  them  until 
I  found  that  one  of  the  girls,  Margie  Shanley, 
with  whose  mother  I  went  to  school  thirty-five 
years  ago,  was  out  for  blood.  But  you  can't  play 
poker  with  a  woman,  as  their  minds  never  work 
twice  alike.  In  my  day  girls  didn't  play  poker, 
and  for  all  the  good  they  do  the  game  they 
shouldn't  play  now,  as  it  is  not  a  woman's  game. 
I  held  back  when  I  saw  that  they  were  all  trying 
to  make  the  game  steep,  but  even  at  that  they 
got  better  than  $4  from  me.  They  all  went  over 
to  Margie's  house,  where  Fred  and  some  of  the 
boys  were  expected  to  show  up  for  dinner,  so 
Polly  and  I  having  a  bite  together,  she  telling  me 
I  should  not  encourage  gambling  among  young 
girls,  and  I  suppose  she  is  right. 

Feb.  13. — This  is  Friday,  the  thirteenth,  and  I 
suppose  a  lot  of  superstitious  people  are  going 
around  with  their  nerves  on  edge  to-day  wonder- 
ing if  the  sjreet  car  will  be  wrecked  or  a  building 
will  fall  into  the  street,  killing  hundreds.  A 
man  should  not  be  superstitious,  although  I 
always  say,  jokingly  that  it's  bad  luck  to  walk 
under  a  ladder,  as  you  never  can  tell  when  it  will 
fall  on  you.  Ellen  saying  that  the  girls  got  the 
boys  into  a  game  at  Margie's  last  night  and  the 
boys  won  every  cent  that  the  girls  won  from  me, 


36  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

and  more.  She  saying  that  the  girls  wanted  to 
know  if  I  would  play  again  this  evening,  but  I 
saying  that  a  man  should  not  strain  his  luck  on 
Friday,  the  thirteenth,  this  being  my  way  of 
following  Polly's  advice  not  to  encourage  idle 
card  playing  among  Ellen  and  her  friends.  Fred 
coming  in  the  evening  and  asking  me  how  I 
expected  to  win  last  evening  when  I  had  only  one 
deal  to  their  three.  I  saying  nothing  but  letting 
Pep  out  of  the  basement  and  giving  him  the  run 
of  the  house,  and  Fred  and  I  having  a  lot  of  fun 
chasing  him  till  I  knocked  a  floor  lamp  through 
the  front  window  and  decided  to  quit,  making 
everybody  laugh  with  a  remark  about  breaking 
up  housekeeping. 

Feb.  14. — This  is  pay  day,  a  good  thing,  as  it 
will  cost  me  something  to  get  a  new  glass  for  the 
front  window,  the  neighborhood  handy  man 
telling  me  that  no  plate  glass  is  to  be  had,  all 
going  into  glass  automobiles,  but  he  agreeing 
to  get  a  piece  big  enough  from  a  building  that 
is  being  torn  down.  I  pointing  out  to  the  family 
the  need  for  strict  economy  so  that  the  little  mis- 
hap may  prove  a  blessing  in  disguise.  Ellen 
dropping  in  at  the  office  just  at  noon  and  going 
to  lunch  with  me,  which  I  enjoyed,  as  she  cer- 
tainly looks  good  in  her  new  coat  and  a  credit 
to  her  family.  After  lunch  Ellen  and  I  strolling 
around  looking  in  shop  windows,  she  getting  a  lot 
of  fun  out  of  this  inexpensive  pleasure,  and  acting 


February  37 

like  a  child  about  it  and  laughing  heartily  at  my 
jokes.  Going  back  three  times  to  look  at  a  window 
full  of  silk  hose  on  sale,  very  cheap,  Ellen  thought, 
compared  with  window  glass.  I  buying  six  .pairs 
for  her  and  she  as  much  pleased  as  if  I  were  a 
millionaire  and  had  bought  her  six  dresses  from 
Paris. 

Feb.  75. — Missing  church  last  Sunday,  so  get- 
ting out  early  this  morning  and  taking  Pep  for  a 
walk  in  the  park.  John  Hartman  coming  along 
with  that  ragged  Airedale  of  his  and  his  dog  got 
rough  with  Pep,  who  is  only  a  pup  and  got  scared, 
and  I  telling  Hartman  he'd  better  get  a  chain  for 
his  dog,  as  he  might  get  into  trouble  with  some 
stranger  about  letting  a  fool  dog  run  loose.  One 
word  leading  to  another  until  I  took  Pep  up  under 
my  arm,  as  Hartman  has  a  chronic  grouch,  and 
I  wonder  how  a  smart  Airedale  sticks  to  him. 
Getting  back  just  as  Polly  and  Ellen  were  start- 
ing to  church,  so  telling  them  that  I  would  come 
later,  but  fixing  the  fire  so  Pep  would  be  warm; 
and  then  it  was  too  late  to  go,  so  reading  the 
Sunday  paper  and  getting  my  sermon  second 
hand  at  the  dinner  table,  though  Polly  and  Ellen 
knew  little  about  what  was  said,  as  is  usually  the 
case,  but  could  tell  what  every  woman  wore  and 
how  often  each  woman  had  worn  the  same  dress 
or  hat,  as  the  case  happened  to  be.  In  the  after- 
noon to  a  lodge  funeral,  Dave  Bishop  having 
died,  as  I  put  it,  of  too  many  charge  accounts. 


38  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Feb.  16. — This  afternoon  a  fire  breaking  out  in 
the  wholesale  millinery  house  across  the  alley 
from  the  office  and  that  gloomy  fellow  Lowder 
getting  it  into  his  head  that  some  girls  were 
trapped  on  the  third  floor.  We  tried  to  stop  him, 
but  he  ran  down  into  the  alley  and  through  the 
police  lines,  and  the  next  thing  seen  of  him  was 
when  some  firemen  carried  him  out  in  a  blanket. 
He  was  dead  and  the  fire  had  got  at  him.  A  lot 
of  other  clerks  were  looking  where  he  was  looking 
and  no  one  saw  any  girls  or  anyone  else,  and  as  a 
matter  of  fact  there  was  no  one  in  the  building 
after  the  fire  got  under  way.  The  company 
authorized  me  to  see  that  Lowder  was  properly 
buried,  no  doubt  realizing  that  I  was  the  one 
person  who  understood  him  and  knew  the  stuff  of 
which  he  was  made.  I  wired  his  mother  in 
Mondell,  some  little  upstate  town,  the  news  and 
for  orders,  and  we  shall  ship  his  body  to-morrow. 
He  had  a  queer  streak  of  some  kind  in  him,  but  it 
took  a  good  man  to  run  into  fire  to  save  life.  The 
firemen  agreed  that  he  had  more  nerve  than  they 
would  have  had  under  the  same  circumstances. 
Seeing  an  undertaker  and  home  late  to  tell  Polly 
and  Ellen  about  it,  making  a  good  story  of  it  and 
bringing  tears  to  their  eyes. 

Feb.  17. — Polly  getting  my  breakfast  and  I 
taking  some  clerks  from  the  office  and  going 
before  the  coroner  and  then  sending  Lowder's 
body  to  Mondell  and  sending  two  clerks  along  to 


February  39 

represent  the  company  till  after  the  funeral.  Back 
to  the  office  and  thinking  of  the  letter  Lowder 
gave  me  to  open  in  case  something  happened  to 
him.  It  began,  "This  finds  me  a  suicide."  He 
went  on  to  tell  about  how  he  saw  no  other  way 
out.  There  were  four  inclosures,  notes  to  his 
mother,  each  of  his  sisters,  and  to  a  girl  here  in 
town.  They  were  stamped  and  addressed,  but  I 
tore  them  open  and  they  were  all  about  his  sui- 
cide. The  note  to  the  girl  was  full  of  reproaches 
showing  that  I  was  right  in  my  suspicion  that  he 
had  been  disappointed  in  love.  The  newspapers 
are  full  of  stories  about  his  heroism,  and  the 
chief  told  me  that  the  company  wired  from  the 
main  office  to  see  that  his  family  was  rewarded. 
Officially  he  is  a  hero.  So  I  burned  all  the  letters 
in  my  furnace  and  decided  to  carry  a  flag  in 
Lowder's  parade  along  with  the  rest  of  the  office 
force  and  every  newspaper  reader  in  town.  No 
one  will  ever  know  the  truth  from  me,  and  I  hope 
he  didn't  plant  other  letters  around  that  might 
cost  him  his  fame.  . 

Feb.  18. — Polly  and  I  having  a  few  words  at 
breakfast  about  feeding  Pep,  she  saying  that 
she  will  not  feed  him,  even  though  I  may  be  up- 
set by  troubles  at  the  office  and  forget  him  once 
in  a  while,  and  I  saying  as  long  as  we  kept  him 
we  had  to  be  human  and  feed  him,  and  she  miss- 
ing the  point  and  thinking  I  was  hinting  at  getting 
rid  of  him,  which  I  was  not,  as  I  intend  to  keep 


40  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

him  until  he  dies  of  old  age.  She  said  that  of  late 
Pep  seems  to  be  my  first  thought  around  the 
house.  I  seeing  that  I  have  made  a  mistake  with 
him,  so  resolving  to  say  something  bright  and 
personal  to  Polly  and  Ellen  every  chance  I  get. 
Beginning  by  telling  Polly  that  the  rice  muffins 
she  made  for  breakfast  were  the  best  I  had  ever 
eaten,  but  getting  in  wrong  there,  as  Mrs. 
Walker,  our  new  neighbor,  had  brought  them 
over  while  I  was  fixing  the  furnace.  Going  to 
work  in  low  spirits  and  trying  to  get  the  office 
down  to  work  again  after  two  days  of  doing  little 
but  reading  about  Lowder  in  the  newspapers  and 
talking  about  him.  Home  on  the  street  car  with 
Bill  Hines  and  feeling  sorry  for  him  on  account 
of  the  way  people  gave  him  the  cold  look. 

Feb.  19. — Taking  Pep  for  a  run  around  the 
block  while  Polly  was  getting  my  breakfast,  and 
away  to  work  in  good  spirits.  The  two  clerks 
who  went  to  Lowder's  funeral  reporting  that  he 
was  buried  with  the  honors  of  a  hero  and  that 
the  preacher  paid  a  fine  tribute  to  his  memory. 
Glad  I  have  done  the  right  thing  by  the  Lowder 
family  and  that  I  am  through  with  them.  Al 
Jackson  dropping  in  on  me  to  talk  more  about 
putting  a  piece  of  money  into  the  patent  he  is 
interested  in,  but  I  telling  him  I  was  putting 
nothing  into  speculative  ventures,  but  was  stick- 
ing to  sound  investments.  I  also  talking  a  good 
deal  about  money  matters  to  keep  from  telling 


February  41 

him  that  he  had  better  hold  on  to  what  he  is 
getting  every  week  and  make  it  cover  his  bills 
and  not  bother  his  mind  with  gambling  on  a 
patent.  It  does  a  man  no  harm  to  give  a  fellow 
like  Jackson  to  understand  that  I  am  not  worry- 
ing about  running  expenses,  but  give  a  good  deal 
of  thought  to  big-time  financial  matters.  His 
daughter,  Beatrice,  at  our  house  for  dinner  when 
I  got  home.  She  has  some  advanced  ideas  and 
talks  about  the  liberation  of  the  women  -from 
domestic  bondage,  and  the  freedom  of  the  soul  to 
drift  on  whispered  zephyrs,  which  sounds  like  a 
book.  That's  all  she'll  have  to  drift  in  if  Al  keeps 
on  throwing  away  his  money. 

Feb.  20. — Polly  and  I  having  words  at  break- 
fast about  Ellen  running  around  with  Beatrice 
and  her  revolutionary  ideas,  I  saying  that 
Beatrice  needs  a  husband,  three  children,  and 
six  rooms  on  her  mind  and  hands  eighteen  hours  a 
day,  but  Polly  saying  Beatrice  is  a  genius  in  her 
way  and  it  would  do  Ellen  no  harm  to  know  that 
there  is  solace  in  the  world  of  ideas  above  and 
beyond  the  cares  of  a  household  and  a  conceited 
husband.  Thinking  while  on  the  way  to  work 
that  Polly  is  not  too  old  herself  to  take  up  with 
some  of  Beatrice's  ideas  and  if  she  does  there  will 
be  hell  to  pay  at  our  house,  as  I  am  in  no  mood 
to  put  up  with  domestic  unrest.  Eating  dinner 
downtown  and  when  I  got  home  Polly  and 
Ellen  wanted  to  know  where  I  had  been.  I 


42  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

came  back  with  a  hot  one  about  how  my  soul 
was  wafted  on  a  whispered  zephyr  to  a  good 
restaurant  and  cruelly  deserted  there,  so  that  the 
only  thing  I  could  do  was  to  eat  a  square  meal, 
free  from  the  thought  that  my  food  was  pre- 
pared by  the  drudges  of  my  household.  Taking 
Pep  for  a  long  walk  and  enjoying  every  step  of  it, 
as  there  is  no  friend  like  a  dog.  Polly  and  Ellen 
to  the  movies.  I  going  to  bed  early,  glad  that  I 
took  the  matter  in  hand  promptly  and  settled  it 
decisively. 

Feb.  21. — This  pay  day,  so  I  getting  myself  a 
pair  of  cheap  overshoes  as  a  present  for  Pep,  he 
having  chewed  mine  up.  Calling  up  the  house, 
but  getting  no  answer,  so  out  to  see  if  anything 
had  happened  to  the  family,  but  finding  no  one 
at  home,  not  even  Pep.  Looking  around  the 
neighborhood  for  him  and  seeing  him  looking  out 
of  Walker's  window,  so  inquiring  about  him,  and 
Janet  saying  that  she  saw  him  whining  on  our 
front  porch  and  supposed  Ellen  and  Polly  had 
forgot  to  put  him  back  in  the  house  when  they 
went  away.  She  likes  Pep  and  we  talking  about 
him  for  some  time.  Walker  is  certainly  a  lucky 
man  to  have  a  beautiful  young  wife  waiting  for 
him  at  home,  always  there  when  he  returns  from 
a  day's  hard  work,  tired  and  hungry,  and  wishes 
food  and  sympathy.  Getting  my  own  dinner  of 
bacon,  eggs,  and  baked  potatoes,  thinking  she 
must  be  Walker's  second  wife,  as  few  men  wait  till 


February  43 

they  have  sense  enough  to  choose  well  before  they 
get  married,  and  then  marry  a  girl  and  train  her 
right.  Most  men  make  a  bad  bargain  early  and 
put  up  with  it  as  long  as  they  live.  Spending  a 
happy  bachelor  evening  with  a  novel  and  early  to 
bed. 

Feb.  22. — Sleeping  late  on  this,  the  anniversary 
of  the  birth  of  George  Washington,  a  good  man. 
Saying  to  Polly  and  Ellen,  "Good  morning, 
how  are  your  souls?"  But  they  not  getting 
the  point  and  I  having  to  laugh  it  off  as  if 
nothing  had  happened.  Then,  thinking  of  Pep, 
telling  them  that  a  dog  had  a  soul,  too,  and  did 
not  enjoy  being  locked  out  in  the  cold,  but  that 
it  turned  out  all  right,  as  he  was  taken  in  by  a 
charming  woman  who  had  room  in  her  heart  for 
a  kindly  feeling  for  dumb  animals.  This  getting 
a  rise  out  of  Polly  and  she  asking  where  I  found 
Pep,  but  I  holding  that  out  on  her,  merely  saying 
he  was  in  good  hands.  She  asking  me  where  he 
was  while  we  were  going  to  church,  and  twice 
during  the  services  she  asked  me  if  I  was  sure  I 
had  locked  him  in,  but  I  saying  that  was  not 
worrying  me,  as  I  enjoyed  finding  him  where  I 
found  him  yesterday.  In  the  afternoon  Polly 
went  alone  to  call  on  two  or  three  neighbors  and 
hasn't  said  anything  to  me  since,  leaving  me  alone 
with  my  novel. 

Feb.  23.— I  guess  Polly  is  more  sensitive  than  I 
thought,  for  she  has  found  out  where  Pep  was 


44  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

when  she  locked  him  out  and  acts  as  if  Mrs. 
Walker  and  I  had  conspired  to  have  Pep  locked 
out  so  we  could  have  an  intimate  little  talk  about 
him.  Polly  and  I  having  a  few  words  about  the 
incident  at  breakfast,  Ellen  not  being  there,  and 
Polly  crying  a  little,  the  first  time  I've  known  her 
to  do  that  since  I  refused  to  jump  into  a  cold 
river,  her  new  fall  hat  having  blown  out  of  the 
car  into  it.  It  does  a  man  no  harm  to  let  it  be 
known  that  he  is  an  object  of  friendly  interest  to 
certain  parties.  Telephoning  in  the  afternoon 
to  learn  that  Ellen  and  Fred  had  a  dance  on,  so 
asking  Polly  if  she  would  come  downtown  to 
dinner  and  a  show,  and  she  saying  that  she  would, 
so  I  sending  some  violets  to  her.  She  showing  up 
in  good  time  and  happy  with  the  violets,  and  we 
to  as  good  a  show  as  I've  seen  in  many  a  day, 
then  getting  a  soda  and  home.  Thinking  that  a 
man  certainly  gains  a  lot  by  marrying  early  in 
life  and  he  and  his  wife  sharing  their  joys  and 
what  troubles  they  have  and  pulling  together  for 
the  good  of  the  family.  Pep  having  been  in  the 
house  all  day,  I  took  him  for  a  run  and  then  read 
until  Ellen  and  Fred  came  home  from  their  dance. 
Feb.  24.. — Polly  sending  me  to  work  with  a  good 
breakfast  and  a  pat  on  the  back,  so  I  guess  she's 
over  her  jealous  spell  and  not  afraid  that  Mrs. 
Walker  is  trying  to  vamp  me  on  account  of  being 
unhappy  with  Walker,  who  certainly  took  a 
chance  in  thinking  he's  young  enough  to  hold  the 


February  45 

affections  of  a  girl.  Beatrice  Jackson  sitting 
down  beside  me  in  the  street  car  on  her  way  to 
work  at  the  library,  and  I  telling  her  what  a 
beautiful  coat  she  had  and  what  a  good  fellow 
her  father  was  to  manage  to  get  it  for  her,  as  it 
does  a  man  like  Jackson  no  harm  to  get  a  little 
advertising  in  his  family  circle.  She  saying  that 
she  worried  about  her  father  sometimes,  as  he 
was  so  given  over  to  business  that  he  had  no  time 
for  higher  things.  I  said  no,  I  thought  he  had 
gone  as  high  as  could  be  expected  when  he  got 
the  coat,  but  she  not  getting  the  point,  saying 
nothing  more  all  the  way  to  town.  A  good 
dinner  waiting  for  me  when  I  got  home  this 
evening,  and  I  enjoyed  it,  as  a  man  never  relishes 
foo.d  so  much  as  at  his  own  table,  food  prepared 
with  loving  care  by  his  devoted  women  folks.  I 
returning  the  favor  by  keeping  up  a  steady 
stream  of  jokes. 

Feb.  25. — Polly  and  Ellen  both  down  to  break- 
fast this  morning,  and  Polly  making  waffles,  of 
which  I  am  very  fond,  though  I  don't  think 
they're  the  thing  for  a  man  to  load  up  on  when 
he  needs  a  clear  mind  all  day  at  his  business. 
Ellen  remarking  about  the  bright  morning  and 
saying  that  it  would  soon  be  time  to  get  the  car 
out  and  enjoy  the  first  spring  days,  and  asking 
me  if  the  car  would  hold  together  for  another 
season,  which  it  certainly  will,  as  I  have  given 
my  best  attention  to  it  and  not  hesitated  at 


46  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

getting  up  early  Sunday  mornings  and  working 
on  it.  It  could  probably  stand  some  paint,  as  I 
washed  it  in  the  sun  a  couple  of  times  before  I 
knew  better.  Figuring  to-day  how  I  am  going 
to  save  some  money  this  year  and  deciding  not 
to  be  a  nickel  pincher,  but  to  live  well  and 
to  keep  up  appearances,  at  the  same  time  putting 
a  little  money  away.  Already  I  have  a  tidy 
little  sum  tucked  away,  and  you  can  trust  me  to 
hold  on  to  it  in  a  tug  of  war  against  the  adver- 
tising writers.  Fred  Thomas  out  in  the  evening. 
He's  about  the  only  one  left  of  a  crowd  that  used 
to  loaf  here  a  good  deal. 

Feb.  26. — Putting  in  a  good  day  at  the  office. 
Jim  Wilkins  in  to  say  that  he  was  passing  my 
house  to-day  and  dropped  in  to  ask  if  he  might 
take  a  look  at  the  wagon,  being  interested  in  it  as 
the  man  who  talked  me  into  buying  it,  and  my 
Polly  and  Ellen  to  the  garage  with  him  while  he 
looked  it  over.  He  said  that  it  was  in  good 
mechanical  condition  and  showed  that  it  had 
been  properly  cared  for  by  an  expert  mechanic. 
I  explained  to  him  that  it  had  hardly  been  touched 
by  any  one  except  me,  he  being  surprised.  He 
then  began  to  talk  about  trading  it  in  on  a  new 
one,  as  according  to  him  it  is  just  ready  to  begin 
to  show  the  kind  of  wear  that  will  cost  money, 
but  could  not  be  sold  at  a  good  price.  I  told  him 
to  look  me  up  later.  Wilkins  is  a  good  fellow 
and  he  knows  motor  cars.  Home  to  a  T-bone 


February  47 

steak  dinner.  Polly  and  Ellen  saying  Wilkins 
showed  up  in  a  new  car  and  took  them  for  a  spin, 
as  they  wanted  to  see  how  the  riding  qualities  of 
our  old  boat  had  been  improved.  They  talking 
about  a  new  car  nearly  all  evening.  Wilkins 
surely  got  them  going,  taking  advantage  of  their 
inexperience. 

Feb.  27. — Another  fine  morning,  so  I  calling  up 
the  battery  people  and  telling  them  to  take  my 
battery  out  to  the  house  and  put  it  in  the  car,  as 
I  intend  to  put  the  old  money  consumer  into  shape 
by  Sunday  and  take  a  spin  if  the  weather  is  at 
all  warm.  Out  to  lunch  as  usual  with  a  bunch 
from  the  office,  and  Arthur  Rogers  telling  how  he 
had  been  playing  the  stock  market  for  five 
months  in  a  notebook  and  if  he  really  had  $1,000 
to  begin  with  and  had  played  his  hunches  as  he 
figured,  he'd  be  better  than  $100,000  to  the  good. 
I  saying  that  he  was  like  the  rest  of  us.  If  he  had 
$1,000  to  play  the  market  he  would  buy  clothes 
all  round  for  his  family  and  probably  lose  about 
$200  on  the  deal,  but  it  set  me  to  thinking  and  I 
believe  I'll  look  around  for  a  place  to  put  a  little 
money,  as  it  jazzes  a  man  up  to  have  a  little  jack 
stuck  around  where  it  may  either  evaporate  like 
bootleg  whisky  or  put  him  on  his  feet  for  life. 
Home  to  find  the  batteries  in  the  car,  so  putting 
in  some  gas  and  oil  and  trying  the  engine  out, 
which  runs  like  a  sewing  machine. 

Feb.  28. — When  I  got  home  this  evening  Polly 


48  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

asked  me  if  the  car  could  be  run  to  the  agency 
on  its  own  power  or  would  it  have  to  be  towed 
down.  I  explained  that  it  is  in  perfect  condition 
and  good  for  the  season,  and  she  said  she  thought 
I  was  going  to  apply  it  to  the  cost  of  a  new  one. 
Ellen  joining  in  at  this  point  and  she  and  Polly 
rooting  for  a  new  car  till  I  was  about  ready  to 
give  in,  but  Polly  changing  her  tune  and  saying 
that  if  I  was  in  some  kind  of  financial  trouble 
which  I  was  keeping  to  myself  it  was  the  plain 
duty  of  my  family  to  stand  by  me  even  though  it 
involved  riding  in  a  car  which  would  soon  be 
eligible  for  the  neighborhood  first  settlers'  club. 
I  saying  nothing  to  this  except  that  the  car  was 
in  such  bad  shape  that  she  and  Ellen  would 
probably  have  to  push  it  if  we  got  any  good  out 
of  it,  and  taking  Pep  for  a  walk,  smuggling  him 
into  a  movie,  which  I  had  to  leave  on  account  of 
him  sniffing  a  nervous  woman's  ankles  under  the 
seat  in  front  of  us. 

Feb.  29. — Up  early  and  getting  my  own  break- 
fast, and  taking  Pep  in  the  car  to  limber  it  up 
and  work  it  in  after  the  winter's  rest.  About 
ten  miles  out  in  the  country  when  she  went  dead 
on  me,  owing  to  trouble  somewhere  in  the 
electrical  system,  so  I  was  laid  up  for  some  time, 
finally  having  to  get  a  man  from  a  garage.  A 
rain  coming  up  and  he  towing  me  in  to  his  garage, 
where  he  took  $4.60  worth  of  time  to  find  the  fuse 
blown  on  the  starter,  which  I  should  have 


February  49 

noticed  at  the  start.  Testing  it  out  and  finding 
that  it  ran  all  right,  so  starting  home,  but  missing 
Pep,  who  should  have  stayed  in  the  car.  Looking 
for  him  for  about  an  hour  and  finding  him  with 
some  boys  down  along  a  creek.  They  were 
teaching  him  to  swim  by  throwing  him  in,  and  he 
was  covered  with  mud.  Getting  a  puncture,  and 
as  I  had  no  spare,  not  thinking  I  would  need  it, 
losing  some  time  fixing  it.  Finally  getting  home 
about  dark.  Polly  saying  nothing  about  the  car, 
but  getting  a  good  meal  for  me.  Ellen  gone 
somewhere  with  Fred.  Giving  Pep  a  bath  and 
going  to  bed  early,  as  I  am  tired,  as  a  person 
always  is  after  the  first  ride  of  the  season. 


March 

Mar.  i. — Not  feeling  very  well  to-day,  as  I 
exerted  myself  too  much  yesterday  doing  all  a 
man  could  do  to  work  the  car  in  so  his  family 
could  have  a  ride  in  the  afternoon,  as  they  enjoy. 
Not  disturbing  any  one  this  morning,  but  getting 
my  own  breakfast  and  taking  Pep  for  a  run  and 
going  to  work  and  doing  my  duty  as  a  man 
should  that  has  a  family  to  look  after  and  a  good 
job  to  live  up  to.  As  I  expected,  at  dinner  Ellen 
and  Polly  began  to  get  curious  about  why  I  was 
out  so  long  in  the  car  yesterday,  and  I  figured 
that  if  I  blamed  the  car  they  would  ask  for  a  new 
one  on  the  strength  of  my  own  experience,  and 
that  if  I  blamed  Pep  they  would  demand  that  I 
get  rid  of  him  right  away,  so  I  said  that  I  didn't 
care  to  risk  tire  trouble  with  the  family  along  in 
the  car,  so  I  picked  up  a  couple  of  friends  and 
gave  the  car  a  good  work  out,  at  which  Polly 
remarked  that  the  speedometer  must  have 
broken  down  after  I  went  twenty  miles.  I  said 
nothing,  as  a  man  should  be  a  little  reserved  at 
times,  when  people  are  poking  into  my  affairs, 
but  went  to  call  on  our  preacher,  who  is  a  victim 

So 


March  51 

of  drink,  this  being  my  little  joke,  he  having 
caught  cold  in  the  rain  and  slush  while  going  to  a 
prohibition  meeting. 

Mar.  2. — Polly  sending  me  away  with  a  good 
breakfast,  but  just  as  I  got  started  on  my  day's 
work  I  caught  a  couple  of  clerks  shooting  craps 
on  a  desk  blotter.  I  called  them  hard,  as  a  man 
cannot  stand  for  this  in  his  department,  even 
though  it  seems  that  everybody  is  gambling. 
One  of  the  shooters  saying  that  he  would  shoot 
me  to  see  whether  he  must  quit  then  or  could  go 
ahead  and  make  his  point,  which  he  said  he  was 
just  about  to  do  as  I  came  up,  and  as  I  don't 
wish  to  blue-law  my  department,  I  took  him  up. 
He  won  from  me  and  then  won  his  point,  and  in 
ten  minutes  had  cleaned  the  other  fellow.  I 
never  saw  a  man  handle  bones  like  that,  but  that 
doesn't  mean  much,  as  I've  never  seen  much 
craps  shooting,  nor  do  I  care  to  see  any  more,  as 
when  I  turned  around  the  chief  was  standing 
there.  He  said  nothing,  and  I  guess  he  doesn't 
care  as  long  as  my  department  delivers  the  goods, 
which  it  does,  as  I  have  the  discipline.  Fred 
Thomas  at  the  house  in  the  evening  and  I  telling 
him  about  it,  and  he  tried  to  show  me  a  few  things 
with  some  bones  Ellen  had  in  her  handbag,  I 
losing  $5.60.  A  young  girl  like  Ellen  ought  not 
to  have  dice. 

Mar.  J. — Working  hard  at  the  office  all  day  and 
home  to  dinner  hungry  and  tired.  Meeting  Pep 


52  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

at  the  end  of  the  block,  and  he  was  glad  to  see 
me,  as  he  always  is,  and  never  asking  for  any- 
thing but  food  and  shelter  and  such  attention 
as  a  man  is  bound  to  give  to  any  living  thing  that 
is  always  in  good  humor  and  has  lots  of  pep.  We 
walked  home  together  and  Polly  met  us  at  the 
door  and  refused  to  let  Pep  in,  saying  that  while 
she  was  out  this  afternoon  and  forgot  to  lock  him 
in  the  basement  he  got  loose  in  the  house  and 
pulled  the  curtains  from  two  windows  and  tore 
up  a  cushion,  spilling  feathers  all  over  the  house. 
She  said  there  was  no  longer  any  room  for 
argument,  I'd  have  to  give  Pep  the  air  for  life  as 
far  as  our  house  was  concerned.  1  told  Pep  to 
wait  on  the  porch  while  I  inspected  the  damage. 
No  harm  to  speak  of  was  done.  I  kept  still  till 
after  dinner,  as  a  man  should  go  easy  when  he's 
hungry,  then  I  took  Pep  over  to  Mrs.  Walker's 
house  and  she  agreed  to  keep  him  for  me  for 
awhile.  I  to  the  movies  and  home  to  find  all  in 
bed. 

Mar.  4. — Polly  and  Ellen  both  up  for  break- 
fast and  wanting  to  know  what  has  been  done 
about  the  dog,  but  I  giving  them  no  satisfaction, 
merely  saying  that  I  had  found  a  temporary  home 
for  him  where  he  will  be  in  sympathetic  hands 
until  they  decided  to  let  him  come  back  where 
he  belonged  or  until  I  could  find  a  little  flat  down- 
town where  he  and  I  could  live  in  peace.  Calling 
up  Mrs.  Walker  two  or  three  times  to-day  to  find 


March  53 

out  about  Pep.  She  has  a  sweet  voice  and  I 
wonder  how  a  clod  like  Walker  ever  managed 
to  get  a  sensible  girl  like  that.  She  enjoys  Pep, 
as  she  says  she  is  lonely  and  he  brightens  the 
house  with  his  cute  antics.  Home  to  find  Fred 
there  for  dinner,  and  a  good  dinner  it  was.  Polly 
and  Ellen  acting  queerly.  Fred  asking  about 
Pep  and  I  saying  he  is  doing  all  right.  Fred  said 
the  man  who  first  owned  him  now  wishes  to  have 
him  back  again  and  is  willing  to  pay  a  fair  price 
for  him,  but  I  not  falling  for  that  line  of  talk  and 
saying  I'd  think  about  it.  Getting  Pep  and  tak- 
ing him  for  a  long  walk  and  coming  back  through 
the  rear  of  the  house  with  him  under  my  arm  and 
putting  him  down  in  his  bed,  where  he  is  happily 
sleeping. 

Mar.  5. — Up  early  this  morning  and  taking 
Pep  for  a  walk.  Breakfast  ready  when  we  got 
back  and  Polly,  seeing  me  coming  with  Pep, 
came  to  the  door  and  said  that  he  could  not  come 
in.  I  said  that  that  would  be  all  right  with  me, 
as  I  would  take  him  back  to  Mrs.  Walker,  who 
had  a  kind  heart  as  well  as  a  sense  of  humor. 
Polly's  eyes  flashed  the  way  they  do  when  she 
makes  a  costly  misplay  at  bridge,  and  she  said 
that  if  that  was  the  case  bring  Pep  on  in  and 
put  him  in  the  basement,  as  the  neighborhood 
was  probably  seething  with  gossip  and  the  sooner 
it  was  stopped  the  better.  Pep  still  here  when  I 
got  home  this  evening  and  now  he  is  back  where 


54  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

he  is  happy  and  contented,  and  all's  well.  I 
suppose  the  gossips  are  busy.  I  know  what  I'd 
think  about  Harry  Vicker's  wife,  for  instance,  if 
she  ran  his  dog  away  and  almost  caused  him  to 
leave  home  in  reprisal,  as  they  say  in  the  news- 
papers. But  I  make  it  a  rule  never  to  consider 
what  other  people  may  think  about  my  actions. 
Mar.  6. — A  man  never  knows  who  his  friends 
are  till  he  overhears  them  talking  about  him. 
Sitting  in  the  street  car  this  morning  behind  that 
Jackson  girl,  and  she  was  telling  some  hatchet- 
faced  woman  with  her  that  men  are  pure  selfish- 
ness itself,  like  the  father  of  a  friend  of  hers  who 
keeps  a  destructive  dog  which  nearly  ruined  the 
house  furnishing,  so  that  his  wife  attempted  to 
persuade  him  to  get  a  gentler  dog,  but  he  flew 
into  a  rage  and  threatened  to  desert  his  family 
and  go  elsewhere  to  live  with  the  dog,  and  actually 
did  secretly  take  the  dog  to  a  rather  queer  woman 
who  lives  within  a  stone's  throw  of  his  own  home. 
That  only  goes  to  show  how  a  lot  of  foolish  women 
will  pass  a  story  along  like  the  village  bucket 
brigade,  suspecting  a  thing  one  minute  and 
repeating  it  for  a  fact  the  next,  until  a  man 
stands  no  chance  at  all.  After  dinner  calling 
up  some  men  in  the  neighborhood  and  getting 
up  a  poker  party,  as  it  hurts  no  man  to  be 
known  among  his  neighbors  as  a  good  fellow  and 
happy  in  his  home.  We  playing  till  late  and 
enjoying  every  minute,  I  winning  $2.37. 


March  55 

Mar .  7. — Working  on  the  car  most  of  the  day 
and  finally  getting  it  to  run  all  right  and  asking 
Polly  and  Ellen  'if  they  would  go  for  a  ride. 
Things  going  all  right,  as  they  seemed  glad  to  go, 
and  Pep  sat  on  the  front  seat  beside  me  and  en- 
joyed himself  all  the  time.  I  driving  around  the 
neighborhood  for  a  few  minutes,  as  it  does  a  man 
no  harm  to  be  seen  out  in  his  car  with  his  family 
and  dog  all  looking  prosperous  and  well  and  living 
happily  together.  But  as  luck  would  have  it, 
as  soon  as  we  got  out  in  the  country  a  few  miles 
the  car  went  dead,  and  while  I  was  looking  for 
the  trouble  the  sun  went  down,  through  no  fault 
of  mine,  and  the  wind  got  cold,  and  Polly  and 
Ellen  began  to  ask  how  soon  the  car  would  be  up 
and  around  again.  Letting  Pep  out  to  run 
around  to  keep  himself  warm.  Finally,  when  we 
were  all  pretty  cold,  finding  the  wire  to  the 
battery  disconnected,  as  I  forgot  to  put  the  nut 
on  when  I  cleaned  the  terminals.  Just  then  Pep 
started  across  the  field  after  a  rabbit,  and  it  was 
dark  when  I  got  hold  of  him,  so  the  trip  was  not 
what  I  expected;  but  a  man's  family  should 
make  allowances  for  a  car  that  has  given  a  lot  of 
service. 

Mar.  8. — Asking  Polly  at  breakfast  this  morn- 
ing how  she  squared  herself  with  the  neighbors 
after  boasting  that  she  would  never  have  Pep 
in  the  house  again,  and  she  said  that  a  woman 
whose  husband  had  threatened  to  leave  her  for  a 


56  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

dog  didn't  have  to  square  herself  with  any  except 
those  who  believed  that  she  made  a  mistake  in 
not  taking  advantage  of  the  chance  to  get  rid  of 
two  nuisances  at  one  stroke.  I  can  tell  from  that 
that  Polly  is  still  a  little  jealous  of  Pep,  but  she 
will  get  over  it  in  time  and  appreciate  me  all  the 
more.  To  show  that  I  was  bluffing  when  I  talked 
about  getting  a  place  to  live  with  Pep,  inviting 
Polly,  Ellen,  and  Fred  to  dinner  and  to  the 
theater,  and,  as  luck  would  have  it,  one  of  the 
characters  in  the  play  said,  "show  me  a  man  that 
dogs  like  and  I'll  show  you  a  good  husband." 
Glad  to  see  more  realism  of  this  kind  on  the  stage, 
showing  that  the  authors  are  going  to  real  life  for 
their  material.  I'll  have  to  go  to  the  theater 
oftener,  as  that  sort  of  thing  should  be  en- 
couraged. 

Mar.  9. — Polly  saying  something  about  a  new 
dress  this  morning,  and  I  saying  that  I  hoped 
she  would  get  what  she  wanted,  as  a  man  in  my 
position  should  treat  his  family  right  and  not  be 
tight  with  his  money  within  certain  limits. 
Riding  down  on  the  car  with  that  Jackson  girl, 
who  seems  to  get  some  kind  of  pleasure  out  of 
sitting  beside  me  when  I  would  rather  read  the 
newspaper.  She  asking  how  Pep  is  and  I  saying 
that  he  is  still  displaying  more  than  human  in- 
telligence, at  least  not  running  around  repeating 
idle  gossip  about  people.  This  would  have  floored 
an  ordinary  person,  but  she  acted  as  innocent  as 


March  57 

a  doll  and  merely  said  that,  judging  by  a  dog's 
standards  of  decency,  perhaps  he  saw  nothing 
scandalous  worth  gossiping  about.  I  said  nothing 
as  a  man  cannot  say  things  that  might  be  repeated 
among  his  daughter's  friends  and  cause  them 
to  think  things  were  not  all  right  in  her  family. 
Talking  about  the  weather  and  glad  when  she 
got  off  the  car.  Home  to  a  good  dinner  and 
reading  the  newspaper,  as  I  didn't  get  to  read 
same  this  morning  on  account  of  that  Jackson 
girl. 

Mar.  IO. — Getting  my  own  breakfast  this 
morning,  not  wishing  to  disturb  Polly  and  Ellen, 
as  they  have  their  hands  full  taking  care  of  the 
house  and  need  all  the  help  they  can  get,  and  a 
man  should  be  able  to  get  a  meal  for  himself 
once  in  a  while  so  he  will  appreciate  the  efforts 
of  the  women  of  his  family  to  make  him  comfort- 
able and  happy.  Working  hard  all  day.  They 
are  putting  more  work  on  me  at  the  office  every 
day  now,  but  I'm  not  kicking,  as  I  don't  let 
any  one  disturb  my  peace  of  mind.  A  letter  to- 
day from  Ethel  Lowder,  one  of  the  sisters  of 
Scott  Lowder,  saying  she  was  coming  to  the 
city  soon  and  would  like  to  see  me,  I  replying 
in  the  affirmative,  as  it  will  do  her  good  to  express 
their  gratitude  for  what  I  did  for  her  brother. 
Fred  out  in  the  evening  and  Margie  Shanley 
coming  in  with  a  fellow  named  Ashcroft.  Margie 
suggesting  poker,  and  all  agreeing,  including 


58  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Ashcroft,  who  said  he  was  willing  if  we  would 
teach  him,  which  we  did,  he  learning  rapidly, 
winning  $4.15  from  me  when  I  tried  to  bluff  him 
just  after  we  started.  I  had  to  work  on  my 
income-tax  return  then,  and  the  young  people 
made  Ashcroft  take  them  to  the  movies  and  for 
candies  and  sodas.  He  was  a  good  sport  and 
said  he  would  go  if  they'd  let  him  pay  for  every- 
thing, which  was  all  right  with  me,  as  I  was 
ready  to  read  the  newspaper  and  talk  to  Polly. 
Mar.  n. — A  bright  day  to-day  and  the  temper- 
ature about  right,  which  I  put  down  through 
having  run  across  John  Hartman  at  lunch  to-day 
and  hearing  him  arguing  with  someboily,  remind- 
ing me  that  he  started  me  on  this  record.  1  had 
nearly  forgotten  about  it,  but  keep  the  diary, 
anyhow,  because  people  are  always  starting 
diaries  and  not  keeping  them  up,  but  none  of  that 
for  me,  as,  whatever  my  faults,  nobody  can 
accuse  me  of  not  knowing  how  to  make  up  my 
mind  to  what  is  right  and  then  doing  it  in  spite 
of  anything.  The  same  is  true  of  the  way  I  have 
been  saving  money  this  year,  as  I  now  have  quite 
a  little  put  away  to  the  credit  of  my  resolution  to 
save  some  money  this  year.  Telling  Polly  and 
Ellen  about  how  I  am  keeping  my  resolutions, 
but  saying  nothing  about  this  diary  or  my  savings 
account,  as  a  man  should  use  a  little  judgment 
about  talking  of  his  personal  affairs  around  the 
house.  In  the  evening  telling  Polly  and  Ellen 


March  59 

that  I  would  read  editorials  from  the  paper  to 
them  when  I  came  back  from  taking  Pep  for  a 
walk,  but  they  had  gone  to  the  movies  when  I 
got  back. 

Mar.  12. — Polly  not  well  to-day,  having  got  a 
cold  from  wearing  pumps  through  the  slush  to  a 
meeting  to  raise  money  for  the  starving  and 
freezing  children  of  Europe.  I  called  her  up  dur- 
ing the  day  and  found  out  from  Ellen  that  Polly 
is  staying  in  bed.  Planning  a  surprise  for  her,  so 
going  around  to  a  place  that  is  pretty  well  adver- 
tised in  the  newspapers  through  being  raided  so 
often,  and  getting  a  little  something  for  her  cold. 
Also  taking  some  violets  home  to  her.  She  liking 
the  violets,  but  saying  she  had  all  the  medicine 
she  needed,  as  they  put  anything  in  bottles  these 
days,  and  to  try  it  on  Pep,  but,  instead,  trying  a 
little  of  it  myself  and  rinding  it  good  stuff,  and, 
Pep  having  chewed  up  my  overshoes,  taking  a 
little  more,  as  the  best  time  to  cure  a  cold  this 
slushy  weather  is  before  you  really  begin  to 
notice  it.  Reading  a  story  to  Polly  and  explain- 
ing it  as  I  went  along,  which  cheered  her  up  a 
good  deal,  as  she  dropped  off  to  sleep,  and  I  went 
down  stairs  to  read  the  rest  of  the  story  to  Fred 
and  Ellen,  but  Fred  had  to  go  right  away,  and 
Ellen  to  bed,  so  to  bed  myself. 

Mar.  13. — Polly  staying  in  bed  this  morning. 
About  noon  I  telephoned  to  her  that  I  was  sorry 
that  she  could  not  come  downtown  and  have 


60  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

lunch  with  me,  and  she  saying  that  she  would 
bring  Ellen  and  come  right  down,  as  she  felt 
much  better  at  the  prospect  of  getting  out  in  the 
air  and  jazzing  around  a  bit.  She  looking  well 
when  she  showed  up,  and  I  saying  she  must  have 
taken  some  of  that  real  medicine,  after  all,  and 
she  giving  herself  away  by  saying  she  couldn't 
find  it,  and  I  joking  her  about  looking  for  it,  and 
she  saying  she  found  the  bottle  all  right,  but 
Pep  must  have  got  into  it,  which  is  strange,  as  I 
remember  leaving  a  little  in  the  bottle.  So  I  said 
nothing,  but  mentioned  a  matinee  and  they  were 
strong  for  it.  After  the  matinee  I  was  hungry,  so 
we  had  dinner  downtown  and  then  Ellen  said  she 
was  going  to  the  theater  with  Fred,  but  I  called 
him  up  and  he  met  us  and  we  all  went  together. 
Counting  the  bottle  and  to-day's  expenses,  I 
won't  save  a  cent  this  week,  but  a  man  has  to  get 
out  of  the  rut  now  and  then  and  enjoy  life. 

Mar.  14. — After  jazzing  around  so  much  yes- 
terday, Polly  and  Ellen  sleeping  this  morning, 
which  was  bright  and  mild,  so  after  getting  my 
own  breakfast  as  a  man  should  be  able  to  do, 
went  out  to  the  garage  and  fooled  around  with 
the  car,  which  runs  like  a  new  watch,  except  that 
it  makes  a  little  more  noise,  as  any  car  would. 
Taking  Pep  on  the  seat  beside  me  and  we  going 
for  a  spin  in  the  country.  Pep  is  good  company 
while  driving  a  machine,  as  he  never  gives  a  lot 
of  advice  about  which  road  to  take  and  never 


March  61 

keeps  asking  if  a  tire  is  down  and  if  the  brake 
bands  are  all  right  and  if  I  am  sure  we  have 
enough  gas,  but  as  long  as  the  wind  whizzes  past 
him  he  is  happy  and  so  am  I,  though,  as  a  rule, 
there  is  little  that  a  dog  and  man  have  in  common. 
Meeting  two  girls  on  the  road  who  said  they  were 
country  school-teachers  going  to  the  interurban 
line  to  take  a  car  to  town,  so  I  hauling  them  into 
the  city  car  line  and  they  enjoying  it.  Passing 
that  Jackson  girl  in  a  speedster  with  some  simple- 
looking  nut.  Home  before  noon  and  spending 
the  afternoon  fixing  up  the  car  for  spring. 

Mar.  75. — Up  a  little  late  this  morning  and 
Polly  getting  my  breakfast  in  a  hurry  and  I 
rushing  away  to  the  office.  About  four  this  after- 
noon a  girl  coming  into  my  office  carrying  a  suit- 
case and  saying  she  was  Ethel  Lowder,  sister  of 
that  fool  clerk  who  was  here,  and  that  since  the 
company  thought  so  much  of  her  heroic  brother, 
she  had  come  to  take  his  place  and  seek  adventure 
and  fame  in  the  city  as  he  had  done,  as  the  family 
at  home  needed  the  money.  What  could  I  do 
but  give  a  job  to  her,  though  she  has  no  experi- 
ence in  an  office?  She  is  quite  good  looking,  for 
which  I  am  sorry,  as  anything  I  might  do  for 
the  Lowder  family  might  be  misunderstood  by  a 
certain  class  of  people.  She  asking  me  where  there 
was  a  good  hotel  at  a  dollar  a  day  till  she  could 
find  a  boarding  house,  and  I  taking  pity  on  her, 
as  she  is  not  used  to  the  city,  and  taking  her 


62  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

home  to  supper  with  me,  figuring  Polly  or  Ellen 
would  know  a  place  she  could  stay.  I  was  sort  of 
afraid  Polly  and  Ellen  would  be  sore  about 
bringing  her  home,  but  they  saw  that  she  should 
not  be  wandering  around  in  a  strange  city  at 
night,  and  asked  all  about  her  folks  and  made  her 
feel  at  home.  We  had  a  good  dinner  and  went 
to  the  movies  and  Polly  and  Ellen  made  her  stay 
all  night. 

Mar.  16. — Snow  falling  during  the  night  and 
was  cold  this  morning.  Polly  up  to  get  my 
breakfast  and  I  asking  her  if  she  and  Ellen 
would  try  to  find  a  place  for  the  Lowder  girl 
to  stay,  so  she  could  get  settled  to-day  and  come 
to  work  to-morrow,  as  it  will  be  hard  for  her  to 
catch  on  and  there  is  no  use  rushing  matters, 
and  Polly  coming  through  like  a  good  sport  and 
saying  she  was  glad  to  do  something  for  a  hero 
like  Lowder,  so  I  leaving  Ethel  in  their  hands,  she 
not  being  up,  knowing  she  was  in  good  hands,  as 
you  might  say,  and  going  to  work.  During  the 
day  telling  the  chief  about  the  girl  and  he  saying 
I  was  doing  the  right  thing  and  had  shown  the 
right  spirit  in  taking  the  girl  home  with  me  where 
she  could  have  the  protection  and  comfort  of  a 
happy  family.  Home  in  the  evening  to  find  no 
one  at  home  and  no  note  to  tell  where  they 
were,  so  getting  a  snack  of  supper,  as  a  man  must 
do  who  has  to  put  up  with  a  couple  of  women  that 
chase  around  and  are  movie-mad  half  the  time 


March  63 

and  can't  be  found,  and  early  to  bed,  thinking 
they  might  at  least  have  let  me  know. 

Mar.  17. — This  has  been  some  St.  Patrick's 
day,  as  when  I  got  up  this  morning  Polly  was  al- 
ready downstairs  and  when  I  went  down  to  fix 
the  furnace  she  was  sitting  in  the  kitchen  as  if 
she  had  nothing  to  do.  I  asked  her  what  was  the 
matter,  old  dear,  did  she  feel  remorse  over  run- 
ning off  last  evening  without  a  word  about  where 
she  was  going?  She  couldn't  see  the  point  at  all, 
and  I  suppose  I  shouldn't  have  tried  to  joke  about 
something  like  that,  as  you  never  can  tell  in  the 
morning  whether  a  woman  is  doing  penance  or 
sleepy.  By  the  time  I  was  ready  for  breakfast 
she  had  it  on  the  table,  but  she  would  not  say  a 
word  to  me  or  even  sit  at  the  table.  On  the  car 
going  to  work  that  Jackson  girl  sitting  down 
beside  me  again  and  asking  me  if  I  enjoyed 
motoring  Sunday  morning  and  I  saying  I  did, 
who  was  that  nut  she  had  picked  up,  trying  to 
silence  her  so  I  could  read  the  paper,  but  she 
saying  that  as  she  was  not  married  and  went 
riding  with  only  one  man  at  a  time  she  couldn't 
see  that  I  had  any  room  to  question  her,  showing 
she's  too  fresh  for  Ellen  to  be  running  around 
with,  as  I'll  tell  Ellen. 

Mar.  18. — Well,  that  Lowder  girl  showed  up 
to-day  about  noon,  and  when  I  said  where  have 
you  been?  she  began  to  cry  and  asked  me  if  I 
didn't  know  that  she  had  taken  her  suitcase  and 


64  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

sneaked  out  of  our  house  Tuesday  morning  with- 
out a  word  to  anyone.  She  did  it,  she  said,  be- 
cause she  had  resolved  to  be  independent  and 
could  not  bear  the  thought  of  being  treated  as  a 
little  girl  alone  in  the  big  city.  She  said  she  was 
now  living  at  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  and  had  not  been 
to  work  because  she  had  been  hanging  around  a 
movie  studio,  trying  to  get  into  the  films.  She 
said  she  had  given  up  the  idea  of  a  career  and 
decided  to  go  to  work.  I  put  the  case  up  to  the 
chief  and  he  said  to  put  her  to  work  and  keep  an 
eye  on  her,  which  I  will.  Home  in  the  evening  to 
tell  Polly  and  Ellen  about  it  and  asking  them 
why  they  didn't  tell  me  what  had  happened  to 
her.  They  looked  at  each  other  kind  of  funny 
and  laughed  as  if  it  was  a  good  joke,  but  they 
looked  as  if  they  had  been  caught  stealing  dolls 
out  of  an  orphanage,  and  I  gave  them  a  piece  of 
my  mind  about  harmony  in  the  home. 

Mar.  IQ. — Polly  cried  on  my  shoulder  this 
morning  and  said  she  was  sorry  that  she  and 
Ellen  kept  still  about  the  Lowder  girl,  but  they 
thought  I  would  be  terribly  worried  and  would 
blame  them  for  not  locking  her  in  her  room.  I 
said  it  was  all  right  with  me,  as  what  else  can  a 
man  say  in  a  case  like  that?  Riding  down  on  the 
street  car  with  Albert  Jackson,  who  sat  down  be- 
side me  and  nudged  me  in  the  ribs  and  winked  as 
if  we  were  the  only  two  men  that  knew  where  the 
last  quart  in  the  world  is,  and  said  something 


March  65 

about  daylight  joy  rides.  Well,  Jackson  is  an 
easy  one  and  I  gave  him  a  line  about  a  man 
owing  it  to  himself  to  keep  in  touch  with  youth, 
as  he  gets  in  a  rut  on  a  down  grade  and  is  likely 
to  land  in  the  grave  any  time,  and  as  far  as  is 
known  a  man  has  only  once  to  live,  anyhow. 
Jackson  is  an  old  man  and  he  gave  me  some 
friendly  advice  about  the  straight  and  narrow 
and  I  let  him  rave  on,  as  it  is  good  for  a  man  like 
that  to  give  advice,  as  he  might  overhear  him- 
self talking  and  take  it  to  heart.  In  the  evening 
to  a  jazzy  film  with  Polly  and  Ellen  and  home  to 
play  with  Pep  till  bedtime. 

Mar.  20. — Pay  day  again  and  I  took  no 
chances,  but  slipped  a  piece  of  money  in  the 
bank  to  the  credit  of  my  savings  account,  as  a 
man  never  knows  when  something  good  will 
come  along  where  he  can  put  a  little  money  and 
make  enough  to  take  care  of  himself  through 
old  age,  if  he  lives  that  long,  or  otherwise  leave 
his  family  well  off.  Home  in  the  evening  with  a 
box  of  candy  for  the  girls,  and  Polly  breaking  the 
news  that  there  is  a  vacancy  in  the  new  dancing 
club  organized  out  here  since  the  war  and  we 
have  been  invited  to  join  if  we  care  to.  I  saying 
I  wasn't  conscious  of  getting  old,  but  if  there  were 
enough  people  around  who  thought  they  were 
tottering  on  the  brink  of  the  grave  and  had  to 
skip  back  to  safety,  all  right,  I'd  join  up.  Fred 
and  Margie  and  Ashcroft  coming  in  the  evening 


66  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

to  play  cards  and  Ellen  saying,  "What  do  you 
think,  mamma  and  papa  are  going  to  join  the 
creaking  knees?"  and  I  said  ,a  man's  knees  don't 
creak  till  his  daughter  is  too  old  to  spank.  Not 
that  I  was  sore,  but  young  people  should  be  more 
respectful,  so  Polly  and  I  to  the  movies. 

Mar.  21. — Up  early  this  morning,  but  not  too 
early  for  Polly  and  Ellen,  as  they  looked  as  if 
they  had  been  up  long  enough  to  want  to  take  a 
nap.  "What  is  the  matter,  is  the  house  afire?" 
I  said,  and  Ellen  said  it  wasn't,  but  they  were 
wakened  by  Harry  Vickers  making  such  a  noise 
getting  his  car  out  of  the  garage  to  take  his 
family  riding  in  the  clean  air  before  church.  I 
saying  nothing,  but  after  breakfast  saying  I  was 
going  to  take  Pep  for  a  walk,  but  instead  going 
around  the  house  to  the  garage  and  dusting  the 
old  ship  off  and  running  her  out  and  then  asking 
the  girls  if  they  cared  to  go.  They  were  certainly 
willing,  as  I  thought  they'd  be,  as  sometimes  you 
can  read  a  woman's  mind  like  print.  We  were 
out  all  morning  and  the  boat  ran  like  a  bird,  and 
both  Polly  and  Ellen  admitted  that  it  had  a  lot 
of  pep  yet  and  might  be  made  to  last  another 
season,  so  I  figure  I  just  about  made  the  price  of 
a  new  car  on  the  trip.  In  the  afternoon  sort  of 
dozing,  as  a  man  who's  been  out  in  the  air  will, 
and  spending  most  of  the  evening  reading  the 
Bible,  circumstances  having  kept  me  from  church. 

Mar.    22. — That    Jackson    girl    sitting    down 


March  67 

beside  me  in  the  car  this  morning  and  saying, 
"Well,  did  you  have  the  same  ones  yesterday?" 
I  saying  no,  I  had  a  couple  of  good  lookers,  why 
was  she  curious  ?  She  said  she  was  writing  a  book 
on  the  stupidity  of  men,  and  I  said  she  ought  to 
get  plenty  of  pointers  from  the  ones  I'd  seen 
her  out  with  and  I  was  grateful  for  an  explanation 
of  her  curious  taste,  thinking  I  would  silence  her, 
but  she  had  nothing  to  read  and  said  something 
about  me  being  the  inspiration  of  the  booic  and 
chattered  that  way  till  I  got  to  thinking  that  she 
works  in  the  public  library  and  may  be  in  earnest 
about  writing  a  book  about  the  stupidity  of  men, 
as  there  is  certainly  plenty  to  say  on  the  subject, 
and  I  sort  of  closed  up,  as  you  might  say,  and  let 
her  do  the  talking.  Between  her  and  that 
Lowder  girl  at  the  office  I'm  beginning  to  wonder 
if  I  hadn't  better  drive  my  car  to  work  and  get  a 
new  job.  The  Lowder  girl  has  her  desk  littered 
with  pictures  of  movie  stars  and  works  in  a  sort 
of  daze,  as  if  waiting  for  her  chauffeur  to  change 
a  tire  on  her  limousine. 

Mar.  25. — Bill  Hines  in  to  see  me  to-day  and 
saying  he  has  quit  his  regular  job  and  joined  the 
sales  force  of  some  sure-fire  oil  company,  a  new 
company  just  organized  last  week  and  now  on 
the  verge  of  leasing  a  farm  in  Arkansas  which  is 
near  a  town  in  which  some  oil  prospectors  re- 
cently make  inquiries  which  point  to  the  success 
of  any  play  made  in  the  neighborhood.  Bill 


68  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

finally  told  me  he  had  lost  his  job  on  account  of 
being  unable  to  get  along  with  the  people  at  his 
place  because  of  that  oil  deal  he  put  over,  and  he 
is  going  to  play  the  game  alone  from  now  on.  He 
tried  to  sell  me  some,  and  I  said  no,  I  wouldn't 
take  it  as  a  gift.  He  then  said  he  would  give  it  to 
me  less  his  commission,  and  I  still  said  I  wouldn't 
take  it  as  a  gift,  but  he  failed  to  get  the  point. 
Too  bad  about  Bill,  peddling  blue  sky  and  may- 
be on  the  road  to  the  poorhouse  when  he  might 
be  taking  life  easy,  as  I  do,  and  not  worried 
about  my  friends,  whether  they  are  his  or  his 
money's.  Home  in  the  evening  to  chase  Pep  all 
over  the  house,  he  being  almost  human,  but, 
fortunately,  not  enough  to  talk  or  sell  oil  stock. 
Mar.  24. — Taking  Pep  for  a  walk  this  morning, 
having  got  up  early  on  account  of  the  clock  being 
fast,  and  passing  Walker's  house  as  Walker  was 
leaving  and  Mrs.  Walker  lighting  up  when  she 
saw  me,  as  if  Walker  was  mistreating  her  and  I 
happened  along  just  in  time.  She  calling  Pep 
to  the  door  while  Walker  and  I  talked  for  a 
minute  in  front  of  the  house,  Walker  acting  to 
me  as  if  he  thought  it  was  not  a  mere  happen-so 
that  I  came  along  just  as  he  was  leaving.  I 
suppose  he's  jealous  of  his  wife,  as  he  has  reason 
to  be,  and  I'll  say  she  looked  as  if  she  was 
happier  to  be  with  my  dog  than  to  be  with  him, 
which  speaks  well  for  Pep,  as  I  have  brought 
him  up  right  and  am  glad  to  see  that  she  knows 


March  69 

he's  a  good  dog,  properly  trained.  Keeping  my 
department  running  smoothly  all  day,  as  I 
always  do  when  the  chief  or  some  one  doesn't 
interfere,  but  worried  about  the  Lowder  girl, 
who  looks  like  a  total  loss.  Home  to  a  good 
dinner,  and  in  the  evening  to  Harry  Vicker's 
house  to  play  poker. 

Mar.  25. — Getting  my  own  breakfast  this 
morning,  as  a  man  should,  and  not  let  himself  be 
a  slave  of  household  routine  so  that  when  he  gets 
off  the  schedule  he  has  a  grouch  at  his  work  and 
gets  the  reputation  of  being  a  sorehead.  Some 
of  the  clerks  in  my  department  complaining  that 
the  Lowder  girl  will  not  learn  anything  and  can't 
even  copy  a  list  of  figures  without  making  a  lot 
of  mistakes  which  some  one  has  to  correct.  I 
asking  her  how  she  liked  her  work,  and  she  saying 
it  suited  her  all  right  till  she  could  find  something 
worth  while,  but  she  could  not  live  on  the  salary 
she  was  getting,  much  less  send  money  home  to 
her  mother  and  sister,  who  are  in  need,  the  sister 
being  a  country  school-teacher.  I  asked  her  why 
she  didn't  go  to  night  school  and  learn  to  be  a 
stenographer,  and  she  said  that  after  bending  her 
knee  all  day  to  the  iron  discipline  of  a  grasping 
corporation  she  had  no  energy  to  devote  to  self- 
improvement.  I  said  all  right,  as  what  else  could 
a  man  say  to  a  girl  that  has  no  sense  of  gratitude 
and  talks  as  if  she  was  studying  to  be  a  Russian 
suffragette  ? 


70  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Mar.  2.6. — Some  of  the  girls  in  our  neighbor- 
hood that  Ellen  runs  around  with  a  good  deal 
deciding  to  have  a  party  at  our  house  to-night, 
so  they  could  have  a  good  time  without  a  lot  of 
men  hanging  around,  so  Polly  and  I  deciding  to 
let  them  have  the  house  to  themselves  and  going 
downtown,  but  too  late  to  get  theater  tickets 
and  so  going  to  a  movie  and  having  a  soda  and 
home  a  little  earlier  than  expected,  but  at  that  it 
was  late  enough  and  all  of  those  children  should 
have  been  at  home  and  tucked  in  bed.  When  we 
walked  into  the  house  six  or  seven  girls  were  in 
front  of  the  fireplace,  standing  there  looking 
busy,  and  a  couple  of  them  were  just  getting  up 
off  their  knees,  and  that  Margie  girl  was  half 
under  the  davenport.  Ellen  explained  that  one 
of  the  girls  lost  a  button  and  it  must  have  rolled 
under  the  davenport,  as  they'd  looked  every 
place  else  for  it.  I  said  that  hereafter  we'd  better 
stay  at  home,  as  the  boys  had  been  here  and  left 
their  smoke,  and  pretty  soon  the  girls  began  to 
drift  out  and  Polly  and  Ellen  cleaned  the  room, 
which  needed  it. 

Mar.  27. — Polly  to  some  meeting  this  after- 
noon, and,  as  Ellen  had  no  place  to  go,  I  asked  her 
to  come  downtown  and  have  lunch  with  me, 
which  she  did,  and  after  lunch  I  intended  to  take 
her  to  some  points  of  interest  in  the  city,  like  the 
State  House,  which,  although  born  here,  she'd 
never  been  in,  but  on  the  way  over  there 


March  71 

passed  a  window  and  she  began  to  rave  about  a 
suit  until  by  the  time  we  had  gone  in  and  looked 
at  several  hundred  suits  more  or  less,  and  finally 
bought  one  that  looked  jazzy  to  me  but  seemed 
to  suit  Ellen,  it  was  too  late  to  go  to  the  State 
House,  so  we  went  home.  The  suit  had  to  be 
altered  a  little,  so  will  not  be  delivered  till 
Monday,  and  Ellen  and  Polly  sat  and  talked 
about  it  all  evening,  Ellen,  who  can't  remember  a 
telephone  number  two  minutes,  describing  every 
stitch  of  the  suit  and  talking  a  streak  about  it  for 
an  hour.  That  suit  cost  a  peck  of  money,  but  it 
was  worth  it  to  get  a  line  on  how  Ellen's  mind 
works,  as,  although  I  employ  and  understand 
women,  I'm  always  learning  something  new 
about  them. 

Mar.  28. — Another  Sunday  rolling  around  as 
usual  and  it  rained  too  much  to  have  any  fun  in 
the  car,  so  all  of  us  went  to  church,  where  the 
minister  talked  at  great  length  about  studying 
the  Bible  and  making  it  your  constant  companion. 
I  deciding  on  the  way  home  to  have  more  religion 
in  my  home,  as  a  man  sometimes  forgets  his 
responsibility  as  head  of  the  house  and  the 
spiritual  guide  of  his  family,  so  in  the  afternoon 
reading  the  Bible  aloud  to  Polly  and  Ellen  until 
Fred  came  and  took  Ellen  calling  somewhere.  I 
said  to  him  that  it  was  too  bad  he  was  not  at  the 
party  at  our  house  Friday  night  with  the  rest  of 
the  boys,  as  I  had  heard  Ellen  say  nothing  of 


72  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

him  being  there.  He  said  he  had  to  work,  but 
hoped  to  get  here  next  time,  and  I  said  if  he  did 
I  wished  he  would  hold  the  crowd  till  I  had  a 
chance  to  look  them  over  and  find  out  how  they 
could  leave  so  much  smoke  that  it  was  thick 
here  long  after  they  left.  While  we  were  talking 
Polly  said  she  guessed  she'd  go  to  see  a  neighbor 
for  a  minute,  so  I  put  the  Bible  away  and  played 
with  Pep,  breaking  the  china-closet  door. 

Mar.  29. — Going  down  on  the  street  car  this 
morning  with  Al  Jackson,  who  said  we  must  be 
flying  pretty  high  at  our  house,  as  he  heard  his 
daughter  Beatrice  talking  about  a  big  crap  game 
at  our  house  last  Friday  night.  He  said  he  drew 
the  line  on  this  modern  stuff  for  his  daughter, 
but,  anyhow,  she  had  too  much  sense  to  be  shoot- 
ing craps  like  a  pool-room  loafer,  but,  of  course, 
everybody  is  entitled  to  their  own  opinion.  I'll 
have  some  words  with  Ellen  about  that,  but  Al 
Jackson  has  no  right  to  call  my  daughter  a  pool- 
room loafer  and  I  cut  him  down  with  a  few  hot 
remarks  about  critics  being  outsiders  without 
enough  life  in  them  to  do  anything  but  talk 
about  people  who  have  the  pep  to  get  out  and  do 
things.  Anyhow,  I  told  him,  maybe  your  daugh- 
ter might  win  a  hundred  dollars  if  she  had  any 
luck.  That  closed  him  up  for  good,  showing  that 
he  hasn't  forgot  he  owes  me  a  hundred,  and  I 
guess  that  after  this  he'll  confine  his  moralizing 
to  people  who  can't  come  back  at  him  with  a 


March  73 

squirt  of  liquid  fire.  Few  of  them  get  the  best 
of  me  in  an  exchange  of  hot  shots. 

Mar.  50. — Ellen  down  to  breakfast  this  morn- 
ing and  I  saying  something  to  the  effect  of  how 
about  the  crap  game  here  at  the  house  Friday 
night?  She  saying  the  girls  were  just  having  a 
little  diversion  to  while  away  the  time.  I  said 
I  didn't  care  about  the  girls,  though  I  thought 
they  might  be  in  better  business,  like  bridge, 
which  is  all  right  for  women  and  can  be  gambled 
at,  but  that  I  thought  girls  had  no  business 
deceiving  their  parents  and  luring  a  lot  of  boys 
into  a  crap  game,  and  as  for  me,  I  wanted  it 
understood  that  it  had  to  be  stopped,  which  it 
will  be.  Ellen  then  saying  that  to  tell  the  truth 
there  were  no  men  here,  the  smoke  came  from  a 
cigarette  one  of  the  girls  smoked  and  they'd 
vowed  they'd  never  tell  who  brought  it  into  the 
house.  Ellen  was  about  to  cry  and  I  saying 
nothing,  as  a  man  should  kind  of  hold  in  a  little 
and  Ellen  is  going  to  spring  her  new  suit  to-day 
and  I  didn't  care  to  have  her  feeling  badly  about 
anything,  so  going  to  work.  In  the  evening 
Harry  Vickers  calling  me  up  about  a  little  game, 
but  just  as  we  were  getting  ready  to  play  his 
wife's  parents  coming,  so  we  had  to  play  at  our 
house,  which  was  all  right. 

Mar.  37. — Walker  hauling  me  down  to  work 
this  morning  in  a  new  sedan  he  just  got  and  tell- 
ing me  he  is  worried  about  his  wife,  as  she  seems 


74  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

to  spend  a  good  deal  of  time  to  herself  and  he  is 
afraid  she  will  get  morbid,  but  he  is  doing  the 
best  he  knows  how  by  her  and  trying  to  show  her 
a  good  time.  He  has  a  heart,  after  all,  and  seems 
to  be  a  pretty  sensible  man,  and  I  heard  the  other 
day  that  he  makes  $12,000  a  year.  Who  knows 
but  she  sort  of  vamped  him  and  he  didn't  wake 
up  till  they  were  married  and  she  had  him 
anchored  for  life?  She  is  a  little  flirtatious  and 
that's  about  it,  she  sort  of  married  him  against 
his  will.  He  hauled  me  to  the  office  in  his  big 
car,  and  as  I  got  out  some  of  my  clerks  were 
getting  to  work  on  time  for  once  and  it  does  a 
man  no  harm  to  be  seen  riding  with  a  man  like 
Walker,  who  is  prosperous  and  a  good  fellow  to 
boot,  as  you  can  see  by  getting  acquainted  with 
him  a  little.  I  inviting  him  to  drop  over  to  the 
house  any  time  for  a  pleasant  hour  or  two  and  to 
bring  his  wife  along,  as  she  could  have  a  lot 
of  fun  with  Pep. 


April 

April  i. — Ellen  looks  like  a  million  dollars 
in  her  new  suit  and  Polly  is  getting  herself  rigged 
out  for  spring,  so  I  guess  my  family  is  not  so 
bad  off.  The  whole  family  turning  out  for  break- 
fast this  morning  and  I  suspecting  that  they 
would  try  some  prank  on  me  as  they  once  did 
some  years  ago,  but  I  guess  they  did  not  know 
what  day  it  was  or  more  likely  concluded  that 
I  was  getting  too  sharp  to  fall  for  anything 
they  could  think  up.  Ethel  Lowder  telling  me 
to-day  that  her  sister  Minnie  wishes  to  come 
to  the  city  and  take  a  job  in  my  office,  but  will 
not  come  unless  I  pay  more  than  I  am  paying 
Ethel.  Ethel  seems  to  think  that  I  can  do  any- 
thing, probably  because  I  treated  her  right  and 
showed  that  I  was  willing  to  do  anything  for  the 
good  of  the  Lowder  family,  but  I  must  say  she 
might  have  asked  me  for  a  job  for  her  sister 
instead  of  saying  the  sister  was  coming  right 
along  as  soon  as  I  agreed  to  pay  more.  Ask- 
ing Ethel  about  her  work  and  finding  that  in  the 
time  she's  been  here  she  has  learned  nothing 
but  the  life  history  of  two  more  movie  stars. 

75 


76  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

She's  not  worth  desk  room.  If  I  can  get  rid 
of  her  in  some  decent  way  I  am  going  to 
swear  off  on  Lowders  for  all  time. 

April  2. — When  I  got  home  this  evening 
Polly  was  crying  and  alone,  and  all  I  could 
learn  was  that  she  had  always  suspected  it, 
but  after  about  fifteen  minutes  of  questioning 
I  discovered  that  the  real  trouble  was  that 
Al  Jackson's  wife  had  been  to  our  house  this  after- 
noon, and  for  Polly's  own  good  and  not  that 
she  wished  to  meddle,  had  stated  that  Beatrice 
had  seen  me  with  her  own  eyes  out  jazzing  with 
a  couple  of  girls  the  other  Sunday.  I  started 
to  explain,  but  I  was  too  shrewd  for  that,  and 
merely  said  that  if  the  Jackson  girl,  whose 
reputation  for  truth  was  beyond  question,  had 
seen  me  with  her  very  own  eyes,  that  should, 
of  course,  settle  the  matter.  I  held  my  temper 
and  did  not  get  sore  as  a  man  might  have  because 
that  crazy  Jackson  girl  is  trying  to  break  up  my 
family  and  wreck  my  life,  but  instead  I  gave 
Polly  a  friendly  pat  on  the  shoulder  to  show 
that  I  had  nothing  to  be  remorseful  over,  and 
fixed  the  furnace  and  took  Pep  for  a  run.  If 
they  are  that  quick  to  think  the  worst  of  me, 
there's  little  I  can  do  to  stop  them,  especially 
as  there's  not  a  gray  hair  in  my  head  and  I'm 
younger  than  I  look. 

April  j. — This  morning  at  breakfast  Polly 
was  as  meek  as  a  kitten.  She  must  have  spent  a 


April  77 

hard  night,  and  I  felt  sorry  and  told  her  that  any 
woman  who  had  a  husband  as  open  to  suspicion 
as  her  husband  was  deserved  a  lot  of  praise  for 
sticking  to  him  when  he  was  the  subject  of  gossip, 
and  she  might  easily  blow  up  and  tell  her  troubles 
to  the  neighborhood  and  have  everybody  saying 
what  a  pity!  She  said  that  she  had  been  a  fool 
for  taking  in  all  that  old  lady  Jackson  said  with- 
out a  word  of  protest  or  denial,  but  it  was  not 
too  late,  as  she  had  said  nothing  one  way  or  the 
other  to  the  old  lady.  I  let  the  matter  rest 
there  and  went  to  my  work  as  cheerful  as  a 
man  could  be.  Several  people  I  spoke  to  on  the 
car  looked  at  me  as  if  they  had  heard  that  I 
was  getting  to  a  place  in  life  where  I  could  hk 
the  high  places  once  in  a  while,  if  so  inclined, 
and  I  must  say  it  does  a  man  no  harm  to  be  an 
object  of  interest  to  his  neighbors,  especially 
when  his  conscience  is  bright  and  clear  and  his 
family  knows  that  he  is  falsely  accused.  Polly 
and  Ellen  and  I  to  the  theater  this  evening. 

April  4. — A  beautiful  morning  and  there  was 
nothing  I  wished  to  do  more  than  to  take  the 
old  surrey  out  for  a  whiz  along  the  country 
roads  before  the  afternoon  crowds  of  joyriders 
began  to  clutter  the  place  up,  but  going  to  church 
instead,  as  when  a  man  is  the  hero  of  a  neighbor- 
hood scandal  it  does  him  no  harm  to  be  seen 
with  his  family  in  a  place  of  unquestioned 
respectability.  The  minister  preaching  a  fine 


78  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

sermon  on  the  sanctity  of  the  home,  and  I  looking 
over  at  the  Jacksons  lined  up  in  their  pew  as 
much  as  to  say  to  Al  that  he  ought  to  take  it  to 
heart  and  not  let  that  family  of  his  make  a  fool 
of  him  over  money  matters  and  in  the  end 
probably  send  him  to  an  early  grave,  but  he 
not  getting  the  point,  as  I  could  tell  by  the 
sanctimonious  way  he  stared  back  at  me. 
After  church  Polly  telling  the  minister  that  the 
parish  needed  a  sermon  like  that  to  silence  some 
of  the  gossips — and  he  said,  "Did  it?"  and 
blushed,  and  you  could  see  that  Polly  had  busted 
him  one  in  his  spiritual  solar  plexus.  In  the 
afternoon  all  for  a  spin  in  the  old  rocking  chair, 
which  runs  like  a  fish  and  looks  all  right. 

April  5. — That  Jackson  girl  getting  on  the  car 
this  morning,  but  not  sitting  down  beside  me, 
so  as  soon  as  she  sat  down  I  went  and  sat  down 
beside  her  and  told  her  that  I  was  certainly 
glad  she  saw  me  giving  a  couple  of  country 
school-teachers  a  lift  the  other  Sunday  morning, 
as  some  fool  neighbor  had  also  seen  me  and 
circulated  a  false  story  which  had  got  home  to 
my  family,  causing  a  lot  of  distress,  and  was 
certainly  glad  that  one  of  Ellen's  friends  knew 
the  facts  and  had  seen  the  teachers  with  her  own 
eyes  and,  if  called  upon,  would  be  glad  to  tell  the 
truth.  This  floored  that  Jackson  girl,  as  I  figured 
it  would,  much  better  than  if  I  had  let  on  that 
I  knew  she  was  responsible  for  the  story.  She 


April  79 

had  no  comeback,  but  said  that  she  would  imme- 
diately tell  every  one  she  knew  that  there  was  no 
truth  in  the  story  at  all,  as  I  had  explained  to 
her  that  the  girls  were  country  school-teachers 
unknown  to  me.  This  will  square  me  all  right 
and  people  will  admire  me  for  managing  to 
make  that  Jackson  girl  eat  her  words.  Spending 
the  evening  teaching  Pep  to  sit  up,  which  he 
hates  to  do. 

April  6. — Riding  down  on  the  car  with  Harry 
Vickers  this  morning  and  he  saying  that  last 
evening  that  Jackson  girl  called  his  wife  up  and 
asked  her  if  she  had  heard  the  story  about  me 
and  the  girls  I  had  out  the  other  Sunday,  and 
when  his  wife  said  she  had  heard  the  neighbor- 
hood gossip  to  that  effect,  the  Jackson  girl  said 
it  must  be  a  mistake,  as  she  had  only  seen  me 
out  with  a  strange  woman  or  two  that  morning 
and  that  I  asked  her  to  say  that  I  was  only 
doing  a  favor  for  some  school-teachers  or  some 
one  like  that.  Harry  said  the  Jackson  girl  has 
told  this  new  story  all  over  the  neighborhood, 
so  I  guess  I  am  square  and  people  will  know  that 
I  don't  give  a  hang  for  their  opinion  one  way 
or  the  other,  but  only  wish  to  shut  the  gossips 
up.  Harry  gave  me  the  laugh  over  the  whole 
thing,  showing  that  he  knows  that  Jackson  girl 
has  it  in  for  me  for  some  reason  or  other,  which 
I'd  like  to  know.  Home  in  the  evening  to  a 
good  dinner  and  a  bunch  of  young  people  coming 


80  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

in  later  to  play  bridge,  but  lacking  one  player 
so  I  suggesting  poker,  and  all  playing  till  late, 
Ellen  winning  the  money. 

April  7. — Telling  the  chief  to-day  that  that 
Lowder  girl  ought  to  be  given  the  air  ;n  some 
nice,  decent,  gentle  way,  as  she  is  knocking  the 
pep  out  of  my  department,  and  he  getting  a 
little  sarcastic,  as  he  does  sometimes  when  some- 
body shows  him  up,  and  saying  that  if  my 
department  is  so  weak  as  to  be  demoralized  by 
a  single  incompetent  employee,  I  ought  to  get 
rid  of  more  than  the  Lowder  girl,  showing  how 
little  he  knows  about  my  department,  which  is 
running  like  a  clock,  as  he'd  soon  find  out  if  I 
was  to  quit  and  leave  the  company  stranded  for 
want  of  some  one  to  give  the  service  as  I  can. 
Anyhow,  he  said  to  put  the  girl  by  herself  some- 
where and  let  her  know  that  she  was  on  pro- 
bation, which  I  did,  she  saying  it  was  all  right 
with  her,  as  she  was  glad  to  do  anything  she 
could  to  help  out  in  the  office  to  which  her  dear 
brother  had  given  the  best  years  of  his  life,  and 
if  it  was  better  for  her  to  work  alone,  where  she 
would  not  lure  the  men  from  their  tasks,  all  right. 
I  then  saying  nothing  about  the  probation,  as 
a  man  should  use  some  judgment  now  and  then 
and  not  be  hasty. 

April  8. — Polly  getting  a  letter  to-day  saying 
her  sister  at  Oldcastle  is  not  well,  so  Polly  and 
Ellen  going  down  there.  Her  sister  is  having 


April  8 i 

a  hard  time,  as  her  husband  died  last  fall,  leaving 
her  with  a  little  girl  about  five  years  old  and  a 
baby  boy  now  about  one  year  old,  and  not  enough 
jack  to  pay  funeral  expenses,  they  having  lived 
up  to  all  he  could  make  as  fast  as  it  came  in. 
I  send  her  $25  each  month  and  each  of  her  four 
brothers  at  Oldcastle  gives  the  same,  so  she  is 
making  out  all  right  as  far  as  money  goes  in 
a  little  town  like  that,  but,  of  course,  if  she  gets 
sick  she  will  be  in  a  bad  way,  but  luckily  she 
has  brothers  there  who  can  take  care  of  her. 
So  I  am  left  alone.  Planning  to  put  on  a  little 
party  with  a  bunch  down  at  my  lodge  club,  but 
finding  out  the  game  they  play  is  too  steep  for 
me,  as  a  man  never  knows  when  he  will  lose, 
sometimes  holding  just  enough  to  stay  on  all 
evening  and  dropping  a  pile  of  jack,  so  I  staying 
out  and  home  to  take  Pep  for  a  long  walk  and 
calling  at  Walker's  house  and  Mrs.  Walker  saying 
she  will  keep  Pep  till  the  folks  come  home. 

April  Q. — Thinking  I  would  go  to  a  show  this 
evening,  but  wondering  if  Pep  got  any  exercise, 
SO  out  home  and  dropping  in  at  Walker's  to  ask 
about  Pep.  Mrs.  Walker  asking  me  to  sit  down 
awhile,  as  Cyrus,  which  is  her  husband's  name, 
would  be  home  any  minute,  but  I  saying  I 
believed  I'd  take  Pep  for  a  run,  as,  anyhow, 
you  never  can  tell,  as  this  neighborhood  is  a 
hotbed  of  gossip.  For  instance,  I  said  to  Janet, 
Mrs.  Vickers  or  somebody  might  drop  in  this 


8i  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

minute,  and  if  so,  before  two  hours  there  would 
be  a  story  floating  around  this  neighborhood. 
Just  then  Walker  drove  in  with  his  car  and  on 
back  to  his  garage,  and  I  took  Pep  and  went  out, 
as  you  never  can  tell  about  an  old  man  married 
to  a  young  girl  like  Janet  Walker,  as  sometimes 
they  get  jealous  for  no  reason  whatever,  you 
might  say.  Meeting  Mrs.  Vickers  in  front  of 
Mrs.  Walker's  house  and,  remembering  what  I 
had  just  said  about  her  merely  by  way  of  illustra- 
tion, acting  as  if  I  did  not  see  her.  Taking  Pep 
for  a  long  walk  through  the  park  and  home  to 
read  Lorna  Doone,  which  is  a  great  novel. 

April  10. — Figuring  up  my  finances  to-day 
and  finding  I  am  in  pretty  good  shape  and  will 
get  through  the  year  with  a  fair  saving  to  my 
credit,  which  is  something  that  doesn't  often 
happen,  as,  of  course,  I've  been  paying  for  my 
home  or  something  most  of  the  time.  Polly  and 
Ellen  blowing  in  from  Oldcastle  to-day  and  I 
surely  glad  to  see  them,  and  they  asking  me  if 
I  had  been  painting  the  town  red  while  they 
were  gone  and  trying  to  have  a  little  fun  at  my 
expense,  but  they  got  nothing  out  of  me,  as  a 
man  should  say  nothing  about  what  he  does 
when  his  wife  is  away,  leaving  her  to  guess,  which 
makes  him  a  riddle  to  her  and  she  won't  lose 
interest  in  him,  and  will  always  have  something 
to  worry  about.  All  going  to  the  show,  including 
Fred,  who  seemed  as  glad  to  see  Ellen  as  I  was, 


April  83 

only  I  didn't  hold  her  hand  in  the  theater  and 
I  can't  say  that  he  had  any  business  to  do  that, 
a  couple  of  children  like  that.  When  we  got 
home  I  spoke  to  Polly  about  it  and  she  said  I 
had  too  many  eyes  and,  anyhow,  she  and  I  did 
the  same  thing  the  first  time  we  went  to  the 
theater.  I  saying  there  was  no  similarity  in  the 
cases  and  putting  an  end  once  and  for  all  to  that 
kind  of  talk. 

April  ii. — This  was  a  fine  day  and  I  telling 
Ellen  to  get  hold  of  Fred  and  we'd  all  four  take 
a  ride  in  the  car  and  get  dinner  at  some  country 
hotel.  The  roads  good  and  everything  going 
all  right  till  after  we  had  dinner,  when  Fred 
climbed  in  the  front  seat  with  me  an  Pep,  instead 
of  in  the  back  with  Ellen,  and  after  we  were 
about  halfway  home,  and  as  I  was  easing  around 
a  sharp  turn  in  a  long  hill  with  a  big  car  crowding 
me  for  room,  he  leaned  over  and  said  he  was 
making  $40  a  week  now  and  able  to  support  a 
wife,  and  between  the  brakes  shrieking  and  what 
he  said  I  found  out  that  he  and  Ellen  wish  to  get 
married.  I  nearly  ditched  the  car  and  finally 
I  said  I'd  have  to  talk  it  over  with  Ellen's 
mother  and  would  give  him  an  answer  some 
day  soon,  as,  of  course,  there  is  no  hurry,  they 
probably  figuring  on  getting  married  in  about 
four  years,  as  both  are  only  children.  Fred 
saying  nothing  and  staying  for  supper  and  I 
finally  treating  him  all  right,  as  if  nothing  had 


84  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

happened,  as  he  is  a  good  fellow  and  all  right, 
and  he  and  Ellen  are  good  friends  and  I  wouldn't 
do  anything  to  break  up  their  friendship,  anyhow. 

April  12. — Instead  of  saying  anything  to  Polly 
about  what  Fred  said  to  me  yesterday,  I  said 
nothing,  as  there  is  no  use  worrying  her  about  a 
thing  like  that  until  they  begin  to  talk  in  earnest 
about  getting  married,  but  Ellen  and  Fred  and  a 
bunch  of  their  friends  all  to  the  movies,  leaving 
Polly  and  me  at  home,  and  after  I  read  the 
paper  and  took  Pep  for  a  run  I  relented  and 
remarked  to  Polly  that  Fred  seemed  to  be 
interested  in  Ellen,  and  Polly  said  I  must  have 
read  it  in  the  paper,  as  I  never  would  have 
known  it  otherwise.  But  I  in  no  mood  for  foolish 
talk  and  asking  her  if  it  wasn't  about  time  to 
break  the  thing  up  and  tell  them  to  be  nothing 
more  than  friends  and  keep  on  having  a  good 
time,  and  she  saying  she  thought  it  was  a  little 
late  for  that,  as  they  had  been  secretly  engaged 
for  a  month,  nobody  but  Polly  and  a  few  of  Ellen's 
friends  knowing  it,  and  Ellen's  trousseau  was  a 
third  done  and  Fred  had  signed  a  lease  on  a 
bungalow  down  the  street  beginning  the  first 
of  June  and  now  all  they  wanted  was  my  con- 
sent. I  said  I  would  think  it  over,  as  a  man 
should  not  use  snap  judgment  in  such  important 
matters. 

April  13. — Saying  no  more  about  Ellen  and 
Fred,  but  doing  a  good  deal  of  thinking  and 


April  85 

about  coming  to  the  conclusion  that  Fred  is  a 
good  man,  as  I  know  a  department  head  where 
he  works  who  says  Fred  was  the  second  best 
salesman  they  had  last  year  and  ought  to  be 
sales  manager  in  no  time  at  all,  as  he  has  the  old 
stuff  that  rings  the  cash  register.  Al  Jackson 
in  to  see  me  to-day  and  he  handed  methat$ioo 
the  first  thing  and  said  he  had  cleaned  up  in 
good  shape  on  that  patent  he  was  interested  in, 
which  turned  out  to  be  a  play  some  big  company 
had  been  trying  to  make  for  ten  years.  He 
had  on  new  clothes  and  talked  about  buying 
a  machine.  Well,  I'm  glad  to  see  him  make  some 
money,  as  he  needs  it,  and  if  he  can  keep  it  a 
secret  from  his  family  maybe  he  will  have  a  little 
peace  at  home,  but  money  is  not  everything. 
I'll  bet  he'd  give  nearly  every  dollar  he  has  if 
that  daughter  of  his  could  land  a  bright,  promis- 
ing young  salesman  and  settle  down  to  the 
normal  life  intended  for  all  women.  If  she  gets 
married  now  people  will  say  the  man  was  at- 
tracted by  her  money. 

April  14. — That  Jackson  girl  riding  down  on 
the  car  with  me  this  morning  and  I  saying,  in 
a  very  friendly  way,  just  what  was  it  made  her 
jump  on  me  all  the  time?  She  saying,  to  be 
frank,  it  was  the  way  I  had  attempted  to  influence 
her  father  in  managing  his  own  private  domestic 
matters,  and  I  finally  got  out  of  her  that  Al  told 
his  family  all  that  bunk  I  gave  him  about 


86  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

economy  and  an  early  grave,  and  all  that  bunk, 
and  he  had  used  my  name  pretty  freely,  and 
his  family  had  got  the  idea  that  I  am  the 
cause  of  most  of  their  troubles,  and  that  I 
actually  tried  to  keep  Al  from  buying  that  fur 
coat  for  Beatrice.  Well,  I  smoothed  things  out 
as  best  I  could,  telling  her  that  her  father  and 
I  are  old  friends  and  might  have  given  each 
other  rather  intimate  advice  at  one  time  or 
another  and  she  said  she  was  glad  to  have  it 
explained,  as  she  did  not  enjoy  getting  even  with 
me  for  the  whole  family,  especially  since  she 
and  Ellen  are  such  good  friends,  and  I  felt  better 
all  day  from  learning  the  truth  about  the  way 
that  girl  treats  me.  Home  in  the  evening  to  a 
good  supper  and  to  read  the  paper  through. 

April  15. — That  Lowder  girl  getting  on  my 
mind  again  to-day,  and  after  thinking  her  case 
over  getting  a  bright  idea,  that  is  to  appoint 
some  young  fellow  to  take  her  case  in  hand  and 
teach  her  the  essentials  of  business  life.  It's  funny 
that  that  solution  never  occurred  to  me  before  and 
I  think  that  I  have  the  man  who  will  fill  the  bill, 
a  young  fellow  in  my  department  named  Ancil 
Carder,  a  good,  steady  worker  and  about  her 
age.  No  sooner  said  than  done,  I  called  him  in 
and  told  him  that  I  was  going  to  intrust  her 
instruction  to  him,  as  it  was  an  important 
assignment,  she  being  a  very  domestic  girl,  a 
homemaker,  and  not  accustomed  to  the  hurly 


April  87 

burly  business  world.  Telling  him  to  be  tactful 
and  take  a  real  interest  in  her,  to  find  out  how 
she  spent  her  time  outside  of  business  hours, 
and  to  see  that  she  was  properly  amused  if 
possible,  etc.  He  jumped  at  the  chance,  as  I 
thought  he  would,  having  sized  him  up  right, 
and  I  think  my  troubles  are  over.  Home  to  a 
good  dinner  and  after  dinner  suggesting  that  we 
invite  the  Walkers  in  for  bridge,  but  Polly  against 
it  for  some  reason,  so  to  read  all  evening. 

April  16. — Another  fine  day  and  some  of  the 
boys  saying  that  it  would  soon  be  time  for  a 
little  spring  fishing  before  long,  so  in  the  evening, 
after  a  good  dinner,  I  went  to  the  attic  and  got 
my  fishing  tackle  and  brought  it  down  to  the 
living  room,  where  there  is  a  good  light,  and 
gave  it  a  thorough  overhauling,  finding  a  little 
rust  here  and  there,  as  is  likely  to  happen  no 
matter  how  careful  you  are  to  put  tackle  away 
in  good  condition.  Fred  dropping  in  for  an  hour, 
as  he  does  nearly  every  evening  now,  and  I 
explaining  all  about  the  tackle  to  him,  showing 
him  how  to  cast  with  a  short  rod,  as  he  had 
never  fished  with  anything  but  a  hook  and  line. 
He  was  interested  and  we  spent  the  greater  part 
of  the  evening  with  the  tackle,  I  telling  him 
about  the  different  fish  I  had  hooked  with  each 
bait,  especially  the  black-and-white  plug  that 
I  hooked  the  four-pound  bass  with  three  years 
ago.  Polly  and  Ellen  finally  going  to  the  movies, 


88  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

as  I  could  not  blame  them  for  doing,  they  having 
heard  my  fish  stories  before,  and  such  stories  are 
apt  to  lose  interest  when  heard  too  often,  but 
I  felt  that  my  first  duty  was  to  my  guest. 

April  77. — This  pay  day,  and  I  putting  by 
quite  a  little  money,  as  a  man  never  knows  when 
he  is  going  to  need  all  he  can  lay  his  hands  on 
without  robbing  a  bank.  But  thinking  it  over 
and  deciding  to  increase  Polly's  allowance  for 
the  house  and  her  clothes  and  Ellen's  to  $45  a 
week,  the  extra  $5  being  not  enough  to  make 
her  suspect  that  I  got  a  raise  the  first  of  the 
year,  as  if  she  knew  that  I  would  have  to  come 
through  with  more.  The  extra  $5  will  furthermore 
probably  come  in  handy  in  getting  some  little 
things  a  girl  like  Ellen  is  likely  to  yearn  to  put  in 
her  hope  chest  for  her  marriage.  Telling  Polly  and 
Ellen  about  it  in  the  evening  and  they  having 
little  to  say.  If  they  had  been  surprised  I  would 
have  been  disappointed,  as  their  surprise  would 
have  shown  that  they  thought  I  was  in  a  rut 
and  not  a  man  still  in  his  prime  and  doing  better 
right  along.  It's  worth  a  good  deal  to  a  man 
to  know  that  he  is  making  ample  provision  for 
his  family  and  they  do  not  have  to  bully  him 
for  a  nickel,  as  that  Jackson  family  used  to  bully 
Albert  before  he  accidentally,  as  you  might  say, 
made  a  piece  of  money.  All  to  the  movies. 

April  18. — Up  at  daylight  this  morning  and 
careful  to  wake  no  one  till  my  minnow  bucket 


April  89 

rolled  down  the  attic  stairs,  when  I  had  to 
explain  to  Polly  that  I  was  taking  it  to  the  cellar 
to  see  if  it  leaked.  Getting  Pep  and  myself 
some  breakfast  and  making  my  getaway  in  my 
car  and  going  up  the  river  four  miles  where  I 
fished  a  few  times  last  year,  and  hiring  a  boat 
from  a  farmer  and  out  on  the  river  early  enough. 
Having  no  luck  at  first,  but  soon  getting  a  strike 
back  of  a  big  rock.  Working  upstream  and 
back  to  the  rock  with  the  current  again  and  this 
time  I  got  a  real  strike.  He  left  the  water  to 
grab  it  and  he  must  have  been  hungry  and  an 
old  timer  at  the  game,  as  it  took  me  ten 
minutes  to  get  him  near  the  boat,  and 
then  Pep  barked  till  I  was  tempted  to  throw 
him  at  the  fish.  Finally  getting  the  fish  in, 
a  three-pound  black  bass,  and  then  going  home, 
where  Polly  and  Ellen  raved  over  the  fish.  I 
went  to  church  with  them,  telling  several  about 
the  fish,  and  calling  up  others.  Most  called  it 
great  luck,  but  there  is  something  in  knowing 
how  to  land  a  big  fish  like  that. 

April  19. — This  evening  at  dinner  Polly  and 
Ellen  talking  about  nothing  but  the  fish,  and 
it  was  certainly  fine,  Polly  being  a  good  cook 
at  things  like  that.  Polly  and  Ellen  insisting  on 
hearing  all  about  how  I  caught  him,  so  I  telling 
them  every  detail,  as  you  must  humor  women 
with  your  sport  stories,  as  they  crave  out- 
doors sports,  but  are  unable  to  indulge  in 


90  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

them,  and  if  they  get  any  good  out  of  hearing 
about  them  a  man  should  not  hold  out.  Having 
a  little  family  council  in  the  evening  in  which 
Polly  explained  that  Ellen  would  need  a  good 
deal  of  money  in  order  to  live  up  to  the  family 
standard  in  the  matter  of  her  wedding,  and  I 
saying  that  it  was  all  right  with  me  and  to  hit 
up  the  charge  accounts  on  me,  as  a  girl  is  entitled 
to  the  best  wedding  her  dad  can  give  her,  and 
I'm  no  pauper  and  will  do  the  right  thing  by  my 
daughter.  Getting  out  my  tackle  and  putting 
a  spool  on  the  line  and  using  the  davenport  as 
the  rock,  showing  just  how  I  caught  the  bass, 
explaining  as  I  went  along  so  that  Polly  and 
Ellen  understood.  Fred  coming  in,  and  giving 
the  show  over  again  for  his  benefit. 

April  20. — The  chief  coming  through  my 
department  to-day  and,  seeing  Carder  and  that 
Lowder  girl  hanging  over  a  desk  with  their  heads 
almost  together,  asking  me  what  was  I  running 
here,  a  matrimonial  bureau?  I  saying  nothing, 
but  remarking  that  what  youth  needs  is  sym- 
pathy, which  it  can  get  only  from  those  still 
young  at  heart,  which  will  hold  him  for 
awhile.  But  I  was  glad  to  find  out  that  Carder 
is  right  on  the  job,  as  I  hadn't  noticed  it 
before.  Looking  them  over  a  couple  of  times 
during  the  day,  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  chief  may  have  stumbled  on  to  the  truth 
and  that  Carder  and  Ethel  might  be  getting 


April  91 

really  interested  in  each  other.  So  much  the 
better;  then  he  would  marry  her  and  I  would 
be  through  with  the  Lowders  for  good  and  all. 
Furthermore,  noticing  that  two  or  three  other 
pairs  in  my  department  are  killing  a  good  deal 
of  time  hanging  around  each  other's  desks.  I 
thought  I  had  weeded  that  out  of  my  department 
years  ago,  but  I  see  I  must  begin  all  over  again, 
yet  must  allow  Carder  a  free  hand.  Polly  saying 
at  dinner  that  Ellen's  wedding  day  has  been  set 
for  Wednesday,  June  16,  and  I  saying  well,  all 
right,  and  not  remembering  till  an  hour  later 
that  the  same  is  our  twenty-second  wedding 
anniversary,  but  saying  nothing  about  it,  as 
Polly  will  be  surprised  when  she  remembers 
it  herself. 

April  21. — Well,  Fred  coming  out  this  evening 
and  I  taking  him  down  cellar,  telling  him  I  needed 
help  to  lift  a  box,  but  after  the  box  was  lifted, 
which  there  was  no  need  of  doing,  I  sprung  a 
surprise  on  him  by  saying  I  had  an  answer  ready 
for  the  question  he  asked  me  the  other  Sunday 
when  we  were  going  down  the  steep  hill,  and 
since  he  was  a  good  fellow  and  all  right  and  all 
that,  it  was  all  right  with  me  for  him  and  Ellen 
to  get  married,  as  while  I  thought  they  were 
both  too  young,  at  the  same  time  Polly  and  I 
were  about  the  same  age  when  we  were  married 
and  we  had  no  cause  for  regret,  as  I  have  taken 
care  of  my  family  and  Polly  has  reason  to  con- 


92  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

sider  that  she  has  done  well,  as  I  am  a  home- 
loving  man  and  have  never,  as  you  might  say, 
given  her  a  moment  of  anxiety.  He  shook  my 
hand  and  gave  me  a  manly  promise  that  he  would 
try  to  do  as  well  as  I  had  done,  so  upstairs, 
where  I  broke  the  news  to  Polly  and  Ellen  and 
gave  Ellen  and  Fred  some  good  advice  about 
making  allowance  for  the  other's  point  of  view 
in  domestic  trouble,  then  all  of  us  to  a  movie, 
which  turned  out  to  be  about  why  change 
your  wife  ? 

April  22. —  Polly  telling  me  this  morning  that 
we  are  to  go  to  that  dancing  club  to-morrow  night 
and  must  be  prepared,  and  asking  me  if  I  knew 
the  new  dances,  as  she  did,  having  learned  them 
when  Ellen's  crowd  was  dancing  around  the 
house  to  the  phonograph.  I  getting  a  bit  worried, 
as,  while  I  used  to  be  second  to  none  when  I  came 
to  tripping  the  light  fantastic,  as  they  say,  I  may 
be  a  little  out  of  date  on  some  of  the  new  dances. 
So  at  noon  asking  this  boy  Carder  for  a  few 
pointers  in  my  office  and  he  showing  me  about 
the  fox  trot,  camel  walk,  one  step,  etc.,  and 
saying  that  the  Lowder  girl  could  show  me  right, 
so  calling  her  in,  and  while  Carder  whistled  she 
and  I  picked  up  the  steps  in  no  time,  not  noticing 
what  time  it  was  until  the  chief  stepped  in  and 
made  one  of  his  sarcastic  remarks  about  this 
being  a  cabaret,  or  what?  I  sending  Carder  and 
Ethel  back  to  work  and  telling  the  chief  the  plain 


April  93 

truth,  and  he  said,  "That's  good,"  and  laughed, 
but  the  laugh  is  on  him,  as  he  doesn't  know 
about  my  plans  for  the  Lowder  girl  and  Carder, 
which  are  working  out  all  right,  else  how  did 
he  know  she  is  a  good  dancer?  I  can  see  through 
him,  all  right. 

April  25. — Fred  and  Ellen  to  a  show  to-night 
and  Polly  and  I,  togged  out  in  our  best,  hitching 
up  the  old  surrey  and  wheeling  over  to  the 
dance,  and  I'm  now  sorry  we  didn't  renew  our 
interest  in  dancing  years  ago  and  don't  see  why 
we  ever  stopped,  as  all  the  people  in  the  club  are 
about  our  age,  people  we  know  and  nevef  before 
thought  they  were  having  so  many  good  times 
that  we  were  missing  out  on,  and  I  must  say 
it's  partly  my  fault,  as  I  remember  saying  that 
we  were  past  that  stage  several  times  when  Polly 
mentioned  it.  I  danced  the  first  dance  with  Polly 
and  she  wanted  to  know  where  I  learned  that 
jazz  stuff  and  I  saying  one  of  the  boys  at  the 
office  gave  me  a  few  tips  to-day,  which  she  said 
explained  it.  But  we  got  along  all  right,  she 
teaching  me  a  good  deal,  as  did  the  other  women 
I  danced  with,  so  I  had  a  good  time,  and  as  for 
Polly,  she's  a  wiz  at  it,  and,  being  slender  and 
quick,  surely  made  a  hit,  as  I  found  out  when 
I  tried  to  get  a  dance  with  her.  Some  of  the 
women  not  caring  to  dance  when  I  asked  them, 
so  sitting  around  getting  some  valuable  pointers 
for  future  use. 


94  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

April  24.. — Feeling  a  bit  stiff  this  morning, 
as  a  man  is  likely  to  after  that  fishing  trip  last 
Sunday,  but  putting  in  a  good  day  at  the  office. 
Carder  and  Ethel  in  to  ask  me  how  I  got  along 
and  saying  that,  if  I  wanted  some  real  dancing, 
to  come  and  go  with  them  to-night  to  a  real 
drag  where  the  jazz  birds  shook  a  mean  foot, 
but  I  not  caring  for  such  a  suggestion,  as  even 
if  I  do  want  to  get  rid  of  that  girl  I  must  have 
discipline  in  my  department  and  not  have  the 
employees  breaking  in  on  my  morning  to  talk 
about  dances,  so  I  said  I  was  sorry  I  had  a  pre- 
vious engagement  and  could  not  go.  Fred  and 
Ellen  downtown  to  dinner  together  this  evening, 
and  Polly  saying  that  we  should  give  them  more 
time  together,  as  this  is  the  happiest  part  of  their 
lives  and  they  should  not  have  to  drag  us  around 
with  them.  I  took  the  hint,  so  Polly  and  I  had 
dinner  at  home  and  went  to  the  theater  together, 
a  detective  play  with  a  fine  murder  in  it,  enjoyed 
by  all,  then  home.  Noticing  that  Pep  was  dirty, 
so  giving  him  a  bath  in  the  cellar,  and  he  hated 
it,  showing  that  he  is  a  good  dog,  a  sure  sign. 

April  25. — As  fine  a  spring  day  as  ever  I  saw, 
but  we  went  to  church.  Fred  came  out  to  dinner, 
and  after  same  we  all  loaded  into  the  car,  I  kidding 
Fred  along  a  little  by  asking  him  if  he  didn't 
prefer  riding  in  the  front  seat,  and  he  said  no, 
unless  Ellen  was  going  to  drive,  so  in  the  end 
Ellen  driving,  which  was  all  right  with  me,  as, 


April  95 

while  I  like  to  drive,  I  want  to  see  Ellen  have 
as  good  time  as  she  can  for  the  next  few  weeks, 
and  if  she  wishes  to  drive,  all  right,  that  suits  me. 
Besides,  a  girl  makes  a  good  driver,  as  every- 
body gets  out  of  her  way,  fearing  that  she  will 
pay  more  attention  to  her  nose's  reflection  in 
the  windshield  than  to  the  road  ahead.  Anyhow, 
we  had  a  good  time,  Polly  and  I  holding  hands, 
as  we  are  not  too  old  to  do,  going  to  dances  and 
the  like.  Pep  getting  the  habit  of  barking  at 
farm  animals  and  other  automobiles,  and  I  had 
to  call  him  down  a  couple  of  times,  but  he  will 
do  better  as  he  becomes  used  to  riding.  Reading 
the  magazine  part  of  the  paper  and  early  to  bed, 
as  the  country  air  always  makes  me  sleepy,  this 
having  nothing  to  do  with  being  old  enough  to 
have  an  engaged  daughter. 

April  26. — Trouble  in  my  office  to-day,  as 
Carder  came  into  my  office  and  said  that  Ethel 
has  a  sister  Minnie  and  he  wished  I  would  give 
Minnie  a  job  in  the  office,  as  she  was  smart 
and  as  pretty  as  a  chorus  girl,  only  different.  I 
asked  him  some  questions,  and  found  out  that 
Ethel  went  to  her  home  over  Sunday  and  Carder 
went  up  Sunday  to  see  her  and  met  Minnie,  and 
must  have  neglected  Ethel  and  fallen  for  Minnie. 
I  told  him  I  would  think  it  over.  Calling  Ethel 
later  and  asking  her  if  her  sister  still  needed  a 
job,  and  Ethel  saying  she  did  not,  that  the  city 
had  brought  death  to  one  member  of  her  family 


96  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

and  nothing  but  hardship  and  despair  to  another, 
and  Minnie  must  stay  at  home,  where  she  would 
be  safe  from  fickle  office  clerks  and  the  like. 
"  Do  you  ever  think  of  going  back  home  to  stay  ? " 
I  asked,  and  she  said  she  didn't,  as  she  still  had 
hopes  of  a  career,  so,  of  course,  I  could  do  nothing, 
merely  saying  that  I  thought  one  representative 
of  the  Lowder  family  at  a  time  was  enough. 
In  the  evening  playing  a  little  poker  with  Vickers 
and  his  crowd,  his  wife  giving  me  a  hard  look,  as 
I  guess  she  doesn't  like  to  have  poker  at  her  house. 
April  27. — Polly  somewhat  worried  about  her 
sister  at  Oakcastle,  who  writes  that  she  is  ailing 
again,  after  seeming  to  be  all  right  when  Polly 
and  Ellen  were  down  there,  so  I  sending  her  some 
flowers  by  wire  to  buck  her  up,  and  telling  Polly 
about  it  in  the  evening  and  she  not  thinking 
much  of  it,  for  some  reason,  saying  it  would  be 
different  if  her  sister  were  sick  in  bed  and  all 
that.  The  neighborhood  buzzing  with  gossip 
this  evening,  as  Mrs.  Walker  went  away  with 
two  suitcases  this  afternoon,  and  this  evening 
Walker  came  home  as  usual,  and  after  a  time 
he  came  over  and  asked  Polly  if  Mrs.  Walker  had 
spoken  to  her  of  going  downtown  or  anything, 
as  she  was  not  home  yet,  and  Polly  saying  that 
Mrs.  Walker  had  said  nothing.  After  about  an 
hour  Walker  came  over  again  and  asked  me  if 
I  would  keep  an  eye  on  his  place,  as  there  would 
be  no  one  there  for  a  few  days,  and  I  saying  that 


April  97 

I  would.  Polly  asking  me  what  he  said,  and  I 
told  her  that  he  made  me  an  offer  for  Pep,  as 
a  man  must  use  judgment  now  and  then,  even  if 
Polly  does  get  sore  and  demand  to  know  the 
truth  about  everything. 

April  28. — That  Jackson  girl  sitting  down 
beside  me  in  the  car  this  morning  and  asking 
if  Ellen  was  going  to  have  a  big  wedding,  and 
I  saying  that  it  was  going  to  be  the  biggest  one 
in  our  end  of  town,  and  she  asking  if  Ellen  had 
selected  her  attendants.  I  never  thought  to  ask 
Ellen  about  her  wedding  plans,  and  it  does  a 
man  no  good  to  have  a  girl  like  Beatrice  chasing 
around  saying  he  does  not  know  what  is  going 
on  around  him,  so  changing  the  subject  as  best 
I  could,  which  was  hard,  as  she  did  not  seem 
to  care  to  talk  about  the  library,  as  you  would 
think  a  girl  would  who  works  among  books  all 
the  time  and  might  pick  out  a  lot  of  stray  pieces 
of  information.  She  asking  where  the  wedding 
was  to  be,  and  what  social  functions  had  been 
planned  for  the  bride,  and  I  finally  saying  that, 
if  she  must  know,  to  find  out  from  some  of  Ellen's 
friends,  as  I  was  giving  out  nothing,  letting  her 
down  easy,  as  she  is  all  right,  only  brought  up 
wrong.  And  not  the  kind  of  person  to  tell  all 
my  daughter's  plans  to. 

April  29. — Riding  down  with  Walker  this 
morning,  he  stopping  at  the  house  for  me, 
showing  a  friendly  feeling  which  a  man  surely 


98  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

appreciates.  Asking  about  his  family  and  he 
saying  all  are  well  except  his  wife's  mother,  who 
was  taken  suddenly  ill  the  other  day,  so  Janet 
made  a  hurried  trip  to  see  her,  just  having  time 
to  catch  the  train,  and  it  seems  Walker  went 
east,  too,  and  found  the  mother  much  better, 
so  he  and  Janet  came  right  back;  so  it  seems 
that  all  of  the  gossip  buzzing  around  the  neighbor- 
hood the  other  day  was  bunk,  and  the  unhappy 
bride,  as  the  women  call  Janet,  is  merely  a 
dutiful  daughter  kept  from  her  sick  mother's 
bedside  by  love  for  her  husband,  which  is  enough 
to  make  any  girl  a  bit  sad,  so  she  does  not  sing 
around  the  house  all  day.  Polly  calling  me  up 
as  soon  as  I  got  to  the  office  and  asking  about 
the  Walkers,  and  I  saying  that  they  were  all 
right  except  for  the  neighborhood  they  live  in, 
which  answer  was  more  expressive  than  polite, 
as  must  have  been  evident  from  the  way  I 
spoke.  Nothing  said  about  it  in  the  evening, 
as  Polly  and  Ellen  were  busy. 

April  30. — More  talk  about  the  Walkers,  as 
their  maid  told  somebody's  maid  that  she  heard 
Janet  tell  Walker  that  the  next  time  she  left 
she  would  not  yield  to  persuasion  so  easily,  but 
would  stay  away  long  enough  to  get  a  good  view 
of  her  life  and  would  do  as  she  pleased.  I  telling 
Polly  that  Janet  must  be  torn  by  conflicting 
desires  to  be  at  home  with  her  mother  and  here 
with  her  husband,  and  needs  sympathy,  but 


April  99 

Polly  saying  that  two  women  in  the  neighbor- 
hood called  on  her  this  afternoon  and  received 
hardly  more  than  civil  treatment.  Well,  who 
knows,  for,  as  I  have  noticed,  a  man  of  Walker's 
age  runs  an  awful  chance  picking  out  a  young 
girl  that  way  and  trying  to  mold  her  high  ambi- 
tions and  the  like  to  his  set  habits.  Now  Ellen 
and  Fred  make  a  good  match,  as  rhey  are  about 
the  same  age  and  upbringing,  and  Carder  and 
Ethel  will  get  along  all  right,  and  I  think  I 
have  made  a  wise  play  in  both  cases.  Taking 
Fred,  my  new  son,  and  the  rest  of  the  family  to 
the  movies,  and  a  good  one  it  was,  a  cop  falling 
off  a  building  through  four  skylights. 


May 

May  i — Well,  here's  another  month  here. 
They  seem  to  roll  around  faster  than  ever  after 
a  man  gets  to  the  point  where  he  is  doing  pretty 
well  in  life  and  really  has  nothing  much  to 
worry  about,  except,  of  course,  his  daughter 
leaving  his  roof  to  make  her  home,  as  it  seems 
only  yesterday  that  Ellen  used  to  climb  up  on 
my  knee  and  ask  for  one  of  those  stories  I  used 
to  make  for  her.  But  far  be  it  from  me  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  my  daughter,  as  she  is  doing  the 
getting  married  and  is  old  enough  to  know  what 
she  is  doing,  and  there's  nothing  to  worry  about, 
as  Fred  is  a  good  fellow  and  all  right,  and  they 
will  live  close  to  us  here,  so  Ellen  and  Polly  can 
run  back  and  forth  every  hour  or  two  during 
the  day  and  exchange  cake  receipts  and  the  like, 
which  is  better  than  if  she  went  away  to  live. 
Taking  a  few  liberties  with  my  savings  account 
to-day  and  giving  Ellen  $50  pin  money  for 
sundries  now  and  then,  as  that  is  the  thing  a 
man  should  do  on  such  occasions,  as  Polly 
pointed  out  to  me,  and  I  give  her  credit  for  having 
the  right  idea. 

100 


May  ioi 

May  2. — Ellen's  engagement  announced  in  the 
paper  this  morning,  also  her  picture  with  three 
other  June  brides,  and  I  must  say  they  gave  her  a 
good  write  up,  though  on  such  occasions  a  little 
more  should  be  said  about  the  parents,  as  when 
you  come  down  to  bedrock  it  is  the  father  who 
gives  his  consent  to  the  wedding  and  sets  off 
the  skyrocket,  as  you  might  say,  yet  you  never  see 
in  the  paper  that  John  Jones  has  generously 
consented  to  permit  his  daughter  to  take  a  chance 
on  marrying  some  young  man,  as  such  things 
are  governed  by  custom  and  not  by  the  truth 
of  the  matter.  All  to  church  and  everybody 
gathering  around  Ellen  and  saying  what  a  lovely 
bride  she  would  make,  and  the  women  and  Polly 
seeming  to  have  a  good  deal  to  say  that  I  wasn't 
asked  to  sit  in  on,  so  I  slipping  out  and  going 
home,  where  I  found  Pep  jumping  for  a  run, 
so  taking  him  for  a  long  run  in  the  park  and 
turning  him  loose  on  spite  of  the  law,  as  a  dog 
is  a  man's  best  friend  and  should  have  more 
rights.  For  a  ride  in  the  afternoon  and  reading 
a  book  all  evening. 

May  j. — Getting  my  own  breakfast  this  morn- 
ing, as  is  quite  usual,  Polly  being  so  busy  getting 
Ellen  ready,  and  Ellen  not  getting  up  till  a 
sewing  woman  who's  at  the  house  most  of  the 
time  now  gets  her  out  of  bed  for  a  fitting  or 
something.  But  I  don't  mind  a  little  thing  like 
that,  as  a  man  should  be  independent  of  house- 


102  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

hold  routine  and  not  a  slave  to  meal  hours  and 
the  like,  a  sign  of  old  age.  Carder  and  the 
Lowder  girl  are  as  chummy  as  ever,  as  I  noticed 
when  I  saw  them  whispering  over  a  book  that 
neither  one  of  them  had  anything  to  do  with, 
so  I  guess  he  must  have  got  over  Minnie  and 
proved  that  I  was  right  in  figuring  that  Ethel 
was  the  one  girl  in  the  world  for  him,  once  they 
were  left  alone  long  enough  to  get  acquainted, 
showing  that  I  was  wise  in  not  sending  for 
Minnie.  The  day  bright  and  warm  and  the  peo- 
ple at  the  office  staring  out  of  the  windows  and 
dreaming  of  being  in  the  country,  I  suppose, 
where  they  would  soon  find  out  what  real  work 
is  and  be  glad  to  get  back  in  an  office  under  an 
easy  boss  who  understands  human  nature.  Ellen 
smashing  a  lamp  on  the  car  to-day,  just  when 
I  am  short  of  money,  but  a  man  has  only  once 
to  live  and  so  I  saying  little  or  nothing. 
;  May  4. — Learning  this  evening  that  the  wed- 
ding is  to  be  at  our  house,  which  is  all  right,  as 
while  a  church  wedding  is  all  right,  there's 
nothing  like  a  girl  being  married  in  the  ancestral 
home,  as  they  say  in  the  books,  though  I  suppose 
it  will  clutter  the  house  all  up  and  I  will  have  to 
make  some  plan  to  get  rid  of  Pep  for  awhile  that 
day,  as  it  would  never  do  to  have  him  get  excited 
at  so  many  people  in  the  house,  as  he  did  when 
Polly  had  her  card  club  at  our  house,  and  start 
to  barking  in  the  cellar,  which  would  scare  a 


May  103 

lot  of  women.  I  could  leave  Pep  with  Mrs. 
Walker,  but  I  suppose  she  will  be  at  the  wedding. 
I  don't  like  to  hire  some  boy  to  take  care  of  him 
during  the  wecTding,  as  boys  are  always  throwing 
things  for  him  to  chase,  and  as  there  are  too 
many  automobiles,  so  you  never  know  when  he 
will  chase  a  ball  or  stick  across  the  street  in 
front  of  a  machine  and  be  killed;  but  I  suppose 
I  could  ask  Mrs.  Walker  to  lock  him  in  her 
basement  during  the  wedding,  which  would  be 
a  good  plan.  Glad  to  know  that  I  have  all  plans 
for  the  wedding  now  made,  and  nothing  more 
to  worry  about. 

May  5. — Going  to  a  dinner  to-night  given 
by  the  company  for  department  heads,  officers, 
some  salesmen,  and  a  few  others  whose  brains  go 
to  make  the  company  what  it  is,  and  enjoying 
the  dinner  all  right  till  we  got  through  eating 
and  one  man  after  another  got  up  and  told  how 
production  could  be  increased,  or  costs  lowered, 
or  sales  promoted,  or  one  thing  after  another, 
from  polishing  the  brass  sign  out  in  front  to 
gilding  the  ball  on  the  flag  pole.  The  big  chief 
calling  on  me  out  of  a  clear  sky  and  I  had  nothing 
on  tap  but  the  temptation  to  say  that  the  business 
is  all  right,  but  what  it  needs  is  to  be  left  alone 
and  run  by  the  old  timers  around  here.  But 
as  soon  as  I  got  to  my  feet  I  got  an  idea  and  let 
them  have  some  advice  straight  from  the  shoulder 
about  the  advantages  of  co-operation  among  all 


104  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

departments,  saying  that  the  motto  of  everybody 
should  be  all  for  one,  the  one  being  the  welfare 
and  prosperity,  prestige  and  reputation,  of  the 
company.  The  idea  thus  tersely  put  left  them 
all  pretty  thoughtful,  as  they  didn't  raise  a  big 
racket,  as  they  did  after  some  of  the  speeches,  but 
remained  thoughtful.  They  probably  expected 
me  to  get  off  some  good  ones,  but  I  thought  it 
was  the  time  to  be  serious. 

May  6. — These  are  great  days  at  our  house, 
with  all  hands  busy  with  preparations  for  the 
wedding.  Polly  telling  me  this  morning  that  the 
car  went  dead  on  Ellen  yesterday  and  she  left 
it  in  a  garage,  so  waking  her  up  and  finding  out 
about  where  the  garage  is,  and  going  around 
there  to-day  and  they  telling  me  that  the  engine 
was  pumping  oil  and  badly  shot  up  and  probably 
needing  new  rings  and  overhauling,  so  I  calling 
up  Jim  Wilkins  and  he  saying  they  could  promise 
no  date  on  it  if  they  ran  it  into  their  shop,  as 
everybody  is  buying  a  new  car  in  the  spring 
rush  and  they  have  all  they  can  do  to  make 
minor  adjustments  on  new  cars,  and  so  on,  so  I 
telling  the  garage  to  give  it  the  once  over  and 
let  me  know  the  damage,  as  what  else  can  a 
man  do  who  cannot  afford  a  new  car  and  has 
the  bad  luck  to  buy  his  of  a  fellow  like  Wilkins, 
who  can't  give  service,  though  the  car  is  about 
new,  as  you  might  say,  having  been  run  less 
than  20,000  miles.  Saying  nothing  about  it  at 


May  105 

home,  as  there  is  no  need  of  clouding  Ellen's 
life  just  on  the  brink  of  her  wedding,  and,  besides, 
getting  little  attention  to  my  remarks  on  any 
subject. 

May  7. — The  bandit  chief  of  the  garage  calling 
me  to-day  and  saying  the  tax  would  be  about 
sixty  berries  and  I  finally  saying  to  go  ahead,  as 
what  can  a  man  do  when  he  is  helpless  in  the 
hands  of  an  armed  garage?  But,  anyhow,  the 
man  talked  all  right  and  I  believe  he  will  do  a 
good  job,  which  often  happens  in  some  small 
garages  where  the  proprietor  takes  a  personal 
interest  in  every  job  and  tries  to  build  up  a 
steady  trade.  Fred  and  I  having  quite  a  talk 
this  evening,  as  Polly  and  Ellen  were  at  a  neigh- 
bor's house,  Polly  saying  she  was  too  busy  to 
go  to  the  dance  to-night,  but  wished  to  finish 
some  napkins  the  neighbor  was  showing  her  how 
to  do.  I  told  Fred  that  married  life  is  all  right, 
but  a  man  must  make  allowance  for  the  fact  that 
a  woman  is  human  and  as  likely  as  not  has 
temper  and  will  show  it  if  she  can  find  company, 
but  will  keep  her  temper  if  the  husband  keeps 
his,  and,  while  Ellen  knows  all  about  running 
a  house,  a  man  should  give  his  attention  to 
expenses,  etc.  Talking  till  Ellen  and  Polly 
came  home,  Polly  to  bed  and  Ellen  reminding 
me  that  I  hadn't  taken  Pep  for  a  run,  which 
I  did,  and  glad  that  she  is  getting  thoughtful 
about  my  dog. 


io6  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

May  8. — Settling  a  bunch  of  bills  by  check 
to-day,  and  I  must  say  that  Polly  and  Ellen 
haven't  spared  the  family  mint  any  in  buying 
for  the  wedding,  and  I  a  little  peeved  at  first 
and  inclined  to  say  that  they  had  better  put  it 
off  till  I  got  to  be  a  millionaire,  but  withholding 
such  sarcasm,  as  I  am  able  to  give  my  daughter 
a  wedding  such  as  perhaps  she  has  dreamed  about, 
and  the  worst  that  can  happen  is  that  I  shall  have 
to  sell  a  few  of  the  Liberty  bonds  that  I  picked 
up  during  the  war  and  have  held  on  to,  not 
dumped  on  the  market  to  cut  the  price  down,  as 
a  lot  of  foolish  investors  did,  people  who  had  not 
figured  on  a  rainy  day  or  an  emergency  like  a 
wedding.  Making  up  my  mind  that  I  will  will- 
ingly part  with  them  in  order  to  make  my  share 
in  the  wedding  a  big  success,  but  I  hope  there 
are  no  more  parties  like  that  one  last  Saturday 
when  Ellen  let  the  cat  out  of  the  bag  to  her 
girl  friends,  but,  after  all,  on  second  thought,  a 
girl  is  married  the  first  time  only  once,  so  I  have 
nothing  to  worry  about,  as  sooner  or  later  Ellen 
will  get  all  I  have  accumulated,  and  what  will 
be  hers  then  is  hers  now. 

May  g. — This  didn't  seem  like  Sunday  without 
the  car,  but  we  managed  to  get  through  the  day 
all  right.  To  church,  where  Polly  and  Ellen 
both  wore  new  dresses  that  were  as  spring  as 
the  wild  flowers  in  the  park,  and  Fred  and  I  were 
certainly  proud  of  them,  as  why  shouldn't  a  man 


May  107 

be,  as  a  little  pride  does  a  man  no  harm,  he  having 
as  much  right  to  think  about  how  he  is  getting 
on  in  the  world  as  other  people  have  to  think 
the  same  thing  about  him.  In  the  afternoon  all 
for  a  walk  in  the  park,  but  Fred  and  Ellen  soon 
getting  tired,  as  they  were  not  equal  to  the  pace 
set  by  older  and  stronger  people,  and  they  sitting 
on  a  bench  looking  out  over  the  lake  and  basking 
in  the  comfortable  sun  like  a  couple  of  birds, 
but  Polly  and  I  hurrying  on,  as  I  wanted  to 
give  Pep  some  exercise,  having  to  keep  him  on 
a  chain,  as  the  park  was  full  of  people  who 
have  nothing  to  do  but  flock  around  a  park  on 
Sunday,  and  many  are  afraid  of  a  dog,  thinking 
he  is  going  to  jump  them,  probably  because  their 
ancestorswere  thieves  and  had  reason  to  fear  dogs. 
May  10. — Well,  you  could  have  knocked  me 
over  with  a  club  this  morning,  as  not  long  after 
I  reached  the  office  Carder  and  that  Lowder 
girl  walked  into  my  office  and  she  held  up  her 
left  hand  and  said  what  do  you  think  of  that? 
And  I  got  the  point,  as  she  had  a  new  wedding 
ring  on.  I  cleverly  got  the  facts  out  of  them, 
and  it  seems  that  they  have  been  engaged  for 
ten  days  and  were  married  at  her  home  Sat- 
urday evening,  which  was  all  right  and  strictly 
according  to  Hoyle  as  far  as  my  plans  are  con- 
cerned, but  it  seems  that  they  have  decided  that 
since  they  are  broke,  and  two  can  make  more 
money  than  one,  they  are  going  to  move  into  a 


io8  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

couple  of  rooms  somewhere  and  both  work  here 
till  they  get  enough  jack  and  Carder's  salary  is 
boosted  so  they  can  set  up  for  themselves  and 
Ethel  can  stay  at  home.  There  was  little  work 
done  in  my  place  to-day,  as  the  men  were  all 
kidding  Carder,  and  Ethel  was  running  from  one 
girl  to  another  all  day.  Telling  Ellen  and  Polly 
about  it  in  the  evening,  and  they  said  a  girl 
who  acted  as  funny  as  she  did  got  just  what 
she  deserved  and  maybe  she'd  be  happy,  I  saying 
little  or  nothing  about  my  part  in  this  affair. 

May  II. — The  chief  came  in  to-day  and  asked 
what  was  it  he  heard  about  a  couple  in  my 
department  getting  married,  and  I  told  him  a 
few  of  the  facts  of  the  case,  and  he  said  the 
company  would  do  something  for  them,  which 
it  did,  sending  a  committee  of  girls  from  my 
department  to  buy  something  for  the  newlyweds, 
which,  when  the  committee  came  back,  proved 
to  be  a  tablecloth,  six  napkins,  and  enough 
candy  to  supply  all  the  girls  in  the  office  during 
the  rest  of  the  day.  I  made  the  gift  speech, 
getting  off  a  few  witty  remarks  about  the  table- 
cloth and  the  courses  of  true  love  that  would 
rest  thereon,  some  getting  the  point,  but  I  drew 
it  a  bit  fine  for  most  of  them,  I  guess,  which  is 
why  they  are  only  clerks,  in  all  probability. 
Winding  up  with  a  few  remarks  about  discipline 
in  my  department  and  a  full  day's  work,  but 
even  at  that  there  was  little  work  done  during 


May  109 

the  rest  of  the  day,  and  I  shall  have  to  fire  some 
of  the  ringleaders  if  they  don't  settle  down  to 
business.  Telling  the  folks  at  home  about  my 
speech,  and  repeating  it  for  them,  and  they 
saying  that  I  was  up  to  my  usual  form  all  right, 
and  laughing  heartily. 

May  12. — Meeting  John  Hartman  at  lunch, 
which  reminded  me  that  he's  the  man  that 
started  me  on  this  diary,  which  was  intended  to 
be  mainly  about  the  weather,  but  has  departed 
somewhat  from  its  course.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
we  have  had  no  weather  to  speak  of  lately,  the 
days,  as  a  rule,  being  bright  and  sunny,  and  the 
spring  being  normal  in  all  respects,  no  big  April 
snowstorms  or  any  killing  frosts  this  month  to 
ruin  the  peach  crop.  But  I  am  not  much  in- 
terested in  crops  any  more,  as,  since  we  got  the 
machine  I  raise  little  if  any  garden,  except  to 
keep  the  perennial  flowers  in  some  kind  of  con- 
dition and  to  take  care  of  the  shrubbery  around 
the  house  and  garage  and  back  fence,  but  even 
at  that  we  have  one  of  the  neatest  places  in  the 
neighborhood,  which  is  a  neighborhood  of  small 
but  pretty  homes,  all  looking  about  alike  except 
for  class  in  some.  Getting  my  car  out  of  the 
garage  to-day,  and  it  has  more  pep  in  it  than  it 
had  the  day  I  bought  it  and  runs  like  a  new  car, 
so  I  am  well  satisfied  with  my  little  investment 
and  took  the  car  for  a  spin  this  evening  to  give 
Pep  some  air  without  wearing  him  out. 


no  Sam  Blick's  Diary- 

May  JJ. — Noticing  this  evening  that  Polly 
and  Ellen  are  getting  nervous  from  chasing 
around  for  one  thing  or  another  to  make  some- 
thing for  Ellen's  wedding  tackle,  and  saying  to 
them  that  they  had  better  just  let  things  slide, 
as  Ellen  will  be  right  in  the  neighborhood  and 
there  will  be  plenty  of  time  after  the  wedding  to 
embroider  things,  and  to  come  along  and  we'll 
run  over  to  the  state  park  Saturday  in  the  machine 
and  stay  at  the  hotel  there  and  come  back 
Sunday  and  take  Fred  along  and  have  a  great 
time  in  the  open.  They  getting  the  point,  and 
grateful  to  me  for  considering  their  health,  but 
seeming  to  think  that  some  fun  is  to  be  had  out 
of  working  like  the  head  of  a  big  family  and 
wondering  how  many  of  each  size  bath  towel 
there  ought  to  be,  etc.  Ellen's  friends  are  giving 
parties  for  her,  and  she  comes  in  too  tired  to 
enjoy  her  happiness,  and  the  other  evening,  when 
I  joked  her  about  whether  she  could  cook  to 
suit  Fred,  she  sat  on  my  lap  and  cried  against 
my  shoulder  and  acted  more  like  a  nervous 
wreck  than  a  buoyant  bride,  but  a  man  can't 
do  much  in  such  cases.  I  told  her  she  must  not 
expect  too  much  of  Fred  at  first,  but  perhaps 
I  did  not  choose  the  right  time  for  this  speech. 

May  14. — As  near  as  I  can  tell,  I  did  not  need 
to  worry  about  how  Pep  would  act  during  the 
wedding.  He  was  a  good  dog,  and  as  soon  as 
the  excitement  around  the  house  is  over  and  a 


May  in 

man  can  settle  down  to  normal  habits  again,  I 
am  going  to  have  another  dog.  And  they  needn't 
have  blamed  me  for  it,  nor  Pep,  either,  for  that 
matter,  as  neither  of  us  made  it  rain  so  Polly 
and  Ellen  had  to  hang  a  tablecloth,  which  they 
had  just  finished  and  washed,  in  the  cellar  to 
dry  instead  of  in  the  yard,  and  Pep  couldn't  be 
expected  to  lock  himself  in  the  furnace  room, 
where  he  sleeps;  but,  of  course,  he  might  have 
left  the  tablecloth  alone,  and  I  suppose  that  if 
I  hadn't  left  the  door  to  the  coal  bin  open  he 
wouldn't  have  dragged  the  tablecloth  in  there 
and  played  tag  with  it,  being  only  a  puppy. 
Anyhow,  hiring  the  ash  man  to  get  rid  of  him 
was  going  pretty  strong,  but  I  saying  little  or 
nothing,  as  Polly  and  Ellen  are  worked  up  over 
this  wedding  and  I  can  expect  no  sympathy 
from  them.  Wondering  where  Pep  is  sleeping 
to-night — probably  on  an  ash  dump  somewhere, 
and  hungry  at  that,  and  it's  raining,  too,  and 
pretty  cold. 

May  75. — Here  it  is  pay  day  again,  and  I 
would  give  my  week's  pay  to  have  Pep  back 
again,  for  I  never  realized  how  much  a  dog  could 
mean  to  a  man  until  they  gave  Pep  away  to  the 
ash  man  and  bribed  the  ruffian  to  get  rid  of  him. 
And  Pep  probably  slept  on  an  ash  heap  in  the 
cold  rain  last  night,  which  he  is  not  used  to. 
Home  in  the  evening  about  ready  to  say  some- 
thing about  Pep  being  mistreated  that  way,  but 


ii 2  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

finding  that  Ellen  and  a  bunch  of  her  friends  were 
having  a  party  of  some  kind  at  our  house,  they 
having  arranged  a  picnic  in  the  afternoon,  but  it 
rained.  They  had  been  here  quite  a  while  and 
seemed  to  be  losing  their  pep,  so  I  handing  out 
a  few  remarks  offhand  about  when  they  were 
going  to  be  brides,  and  getting  a  laugh  or  two, 
and  finally  asking  Ellen  on  the  side  if  I  could 
take  the  whole  bunch  in  the  car  downtown  to 
the  movies,  and  they  jumping  at  the  chance.  It 
was  quite  a  load,  but  we  made  the  grade  and 
afterward  I  took  them  all  home,  as  I  like  to  do 
a  little  thing  like  that  for  Ellen's  friends,  they 
being  a  fine  crowd  of  girls  and  I  not  too  old 
for  companionship. 

May  16. — Raining  this  morning  and  unfit  for 
a  trip  into  the  country,  but  a  good  day  to  do  a 
little  fishing  if  a  man  was  foolish  enough  to  go 
after  bass  when  they  are  nesting,  which  ruins 
the  sport,  so  no  more  fishing  for  me  till  the 
middle  of  the  summer.  All  to  church  in  the  car, 
which  runs  better  than  ever  except  that  the 
battery  is  getting  a  little  weak  and  I  suppose  I 
will  have  to  have  a  new  one  some  day  to  remind 
me  that,  like  a  family,  it  isn't  the  car  that  sets  a 
man  back,  but  the  upkeep.  Fred  not  showing 
up  to-day,  as  his  mother  is  sick  at  Hamilton,  the 
little  town  which  he  came  from  to  the  city,  and 
he  is  down  there  to  see  her,  leaving  Ellen  moping 
around  the  house  as  if  her  wedding  had  been 


May  113 

called  off.  Rain  all  afternoon  and  I  reading  a 
story  aloud  from  a  magazine  until  Ellen  and 
Polly  decided  to  take  a  nap  and  left  me  to  finish 
it  to  myself,  they  probably  knowing  that  I  get 
more  pleasure  out  of  reading  to  myself.  The 
rain  stopping  toward  evening,  and  I  taking  a 
long  walk  in  the  park  and  keeping  a  careful 
lookout  for  Pep,  but  no  sign  of  him,  so  I  guess 
that  to-morrow  I'll  see  the  ash  man. 

May  77. — This  morning  I  was  awakened  about 
3  A.M.  by  a  burglar  cutting  the  screen  in  the  back 
door,  but  on  looking  out  the  back  window  saw 
that  it  was  not  a  burglar,  but  Pep  pawing  at 
the  screen.  Without  waking  Polly  or  Ellen,  going 
down  and  letting  him  in,  and  he  was  surely  glad 
to  see  me,  jumping  up  and  trying  to  lick  my  face, 
and  it  was  all  I  could  do  to  keep  him  from 
barking.  Taking  him  to  the  cellar,  where  I  got 
some  warm  water  and  gave  him  a  bath,  which 
he  surely  needed,  and  then  giving  him  the 
chicken  we  had  left  from  dinner  yesterday,  and 
he  ate  as  if  he  hadn't  been  fed  since  he  was 
thrown  out  of  the  house.  Back  to  bed  about 
4.30,  and  in  the  morning  waking  Polly  and  tell- 
ing her  that  Pep  was  in  the  cellar.  I  made  it 
clear  that  he  was  back  for  good,  at  which  we 
had  some  words  leading  up  gradually  to  an  agree- 
ment that  he  could  stay  at  the  house  twenty- 
four  hours,  but  must  be  got  rid  of,  so  to-day  I 
arranged  with  a  dog  boarding-house  keeper  to 


ii4  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

keep  Pep  for  the  time  being,  till  Ellen  gets 
married  and  I  can  call  my  home  my  own  again. 
Taking  Pep  to  the  kennel  this  evening  and  seeing 
that  he  is  all  right,  but  surely  hating  to  leave 
him  there. 

May  18. — Fred  not  showing  up  this  evening, 
and  when  I  asked  where  he  was  Ellen  started  to 
cry  and  went  to  her  room,  and  I  finally  got  out 
of  Polly  that  Fred  reported  last  evening  that  his 
mother  was  all  right,  just  had  a  spring  cold,  but 
he  spent  the  whole  evening  talking  about  what 
a  great  old  town  Hamilton  is,  and  how  many 
friends  he  has  there  and  what  good  times  they 
used  to  have,  till  Ellen,  being  somewhat  tuned 
up  over  going  to  so  many  parties,  showers,  and 
the  like,  said  he'd  talked  himself  into  being  a 
stranger  to  her,  and  one  word  led  to  another, 
and  so  on,  as  such  things  will,  and  she  said 
something  about  a  hick  town,  and  he  took  it  as 
a  reflection  upon  himself,  and  in  the  end  took 
his  hat  and  went  home  mad,  and  Ellen  has  not 
heard  a  word  from  him  to-day.  Well,  as  I  told 
Polly,  it  is  far  better  that  they  discover  that  they 
cannot  get  along  together  now,  rather  than  after 
their  marriage,  and  I  wishing  to  comfort  Ellen 
by  telling  her  there  are  plenty  of  other  men,  but 
Polly  saying  to  leave  her  alone,  which  I  did,  as 
there  are  some  cases  where  a  man  had  better 
go  easy. 

May  19. — Ellen  spent  a  very  unhappy  night. 


May  115 

as  we  could  tell  by  hearing  her  cry  once  in  awhile, 
and  Polly  going  into  her  room  and  they  having 
a  talk  or  two,  so  at  the  breakfast  table  I  telling 
Polly  that  I  guessed  I  would  take  Fred  out  to 
lunch  to-day  and  give  him  a  raking  over  the 
coals  and  finish  the  job  right,  as,  although  Ellen 
shouldn't  have  let  him  get  cross  if  she  thought 
so  much  of  him  that  she  was  likely  to  have  a 
hard  time  giving  him  up,  we  could  not  side  with 
Fred  in  this  matter,  but  must  do  what  we  could 
to  protect  Ellen,  and  for  my  part  I  am  willing 
to  take  the  young  fool  by  the  scruff  of  the  neck 
and  let  him  know  that  he  fooled  with  the  wrong 
man  when  he  abused  my  hospitality.  But 
Polly  saying  to  do  nothing  whatever,  but  let 
matters  take  their  course,  and  not  to  say  any- 
thing about  it  to  any  one,  for  if  I  did  it  would 
be  all  over  the  neighborhood  like  wildfire  and 
Ellen  would  grieve  more  than  ever.  Troubled 
about  this  and  finding  some  of  my  clerks  loafing 
to-day,  and  firing  three  of  them  without  cere- 
mony and  calling  others  down.  Ellen  better 
this  evening,  but  about  all  in. 

May  20. — When  I  got  home  this  evening  I 
thought  the  wedding  date  had  been  changed,  as 
flowers  all  over  the  house,  it  seemed  to  me,  or  at 
least  four  vases  of  them,  and  Ellen  was  sitting 
on  the  davenport,  eating  out  of  a  five-pound  box 
of  candy  and  staring  into  the  fireplace,  which, 
of  course,  had  no  fire  in  it,  and  when  I  entered 


n6  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

the  room  she  jumped  up  and  kissed  me  and  gave 
me  a  hug  and  ran  on  upstairs,  singing  like  a  bird. 
I  went  out  to  the  kitchen  to  see  what  happened, 
and  Polly  said  Fred  had  called  Ellen  up  early 
this  morning  and  said  he  hadn't  been  able  to 
sleep  a  wink  since  they  had  a  few  words,  and 
he  had  done  nothing  but  walk  the  streets  in  the 
depths  of  despair,  and  he  wanted  to  know  if  she 
would  take  him  back.  I  was  hoping  Ellen  let 
him  broil  for  awhile,  but  as  near  as  I  could 
find  out  she  said  all  right,  and  asked  him 
to  come  out  to  the  house  for  luncheon,  which  he 
did.  I  suppose  that  if  Ellen  insists  upon  taking 
him  back  it  will  have  to  be  all  right  with  me.  I 
went  alone  to  the  movies,  and  did  not  see  Fred 
when  he  came  out  this  evening,  as  he's  still  in 
bad  with  me. 

May  21. — Fred  Thomas  calling  me  up  to-day 
and  asking  me  to  have  lunch  with  him,  and  I 
finally  said  I  would.  He  is  worried  about  Ellen, 
saying  he  wished  I  would  put  in  a  word  for  a 
plan  he  had  to  get  to  cut  out  some  of  this  jazzing 
around  that  she  is  doing,  as  she  is  so  nervous  that 
he  is  afraid  that  she  will  be  a  wreck  by  her  wedding 
day,  and  he  seemed  to  be  so  much  worried  about 
her  that  I  could  see  that  there  was  another 
chapter  to  that  quarrel  between  him  and  Ellen,  so 
I  said  I  would  do  what  I  could.  In  the  evening 
asking  Ellen  about  it  and  telling  her  what  Fred 
had  said  and  how  serious  it  was,  as  he  had  felt 


May  117 

that  he  ought  to  get  me  to  help  him.  But  she 
is  still  up  in  the  air,  for  she  said  to  me  that  she 
thought  that  she  was  equal  to  her  own  affairs, 
and  she  thought  Fred  was  going  out  of  his  way 
to  tell  her  what  to  do,  so  I  changing  the  subject, 
as  a  man  should  use  diplomacy  in  a  case  like  this, 
and  not  force,  so  I  asking  her  to  go  with  me  to  the 
kennel  to  see  Pep.  We  got  home  and  took  a 
long  drive  and  she  felt  much  better,  and  said 
she  guessed  Fred  and  I  were  right  about  taxing 
her  strength,  so  I  have  settled  another  difficulty 
all  right. 

May  22. — Thinking  about  those  clerks  I  fired 
the  other  day,  so  sending  for  them  and  offering 
to  take  them  back,  which  two  of  them  jumped 
at,  but  the  other  one  called  me  a  hot-tempered 
old  skunk  and  refused  to  return  to  work,  which 
was  all  right  with  me,  as  I  want  no  clerks  around 
me  that  have  no  more  sense  of  loyalty  than  to  use 
violent  language  toward  a  man  who  has  befriended 
them.  Figuring  on  my  expenses,  which  run 
pretty  heavy  these  days,  and  deciding  to  save 
every  cent  I  can  to  defray  the  cost  of  Ellen's 
wedding,  for  I  am  going  to  spare  nothing  to  give 
Ellen  what  she  asks  for,  within  reason,  for  a 
man  should  not  lose  his  head.  Fred  out  in  the 
evening,  and  Margie  and  this  Ashcroft,  and  we 
got  into  a  poker  game  and  I  pulled  a  few  old 
ones  on  them,  like  passing  four  treys  under  the 
gun  and  hesitating  about  staying  and  then  run- 


n8  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

ning  into  a  full  house  and  an  ace-high  flush  and 
winning  $3.10,  even  with  a  ten-cent  limit.  Get- 
ting even  with  that  fellow  Ashcroft  by  saying 
that  I  wanted  excitement  and  would  go  out  and 
walk  around  the  block,  which  I  did,  Polly  and 
I  going  to  the  movies  and  to  buy  candy  and  cigars. 
May  23. — An  ideal  day  and  I  planning  to  give 
Ellen  a  good  rest  by  taking  a  long  trip  with 
Fred  along,  and  also  persuading  Polly  to  let  me 
pass  the  kennel  and  get  Pep,  who  was  glad  to  see 
Polly,  and  she  finally  patted  him  on  the  head 
and  asked  him  how  he  was.  That  shows  how 
forgiving  a  dog  is,  as  he  does  not  blame  her  for 
giving  him  to  the  ash  man,  but  is  willing  to  over- 
look her  temper  and  start  over  again.  I  drove 
for  a  couple  of  hours,  and  then  Polly  and  I  traded 
seats  with  Fred  and  Ellen,  and  Ellen  drove. 
Presently  I  noticed  that  we  were  in  fresh  gravel 
and  Ellen  was  having  a  hard  time  keeping  the 
old  bus  in  the  road;  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  I 
should  have  noticed  sooner,  as  she  was  almost 
exhausted,  for  the  old  wagon  steers  a  little  hard 
now,  as  I  guess  she  needs  oil  in  the  steering 
housing.  Polly  bawled  me  out  in  front  of  Fred, 
and  Fred  said  something  about  me  being  the  only 
one  who  knew  how  hard  the  boat  steered,  and 
by  the  time  I  got  home  you  would  have  thought 
I  was  a  criminal,  so  I  taking  Pep  back  to  the 
kennel,  and,  leaving  the  car  there  awhile,  taking 
him  for  a  long  walk. 


May  119 

May  24. — Riding  down  on  the  car  with  Albert 
Jackson  this  morning,  and  I  thought  I  would  kid 
him  a  little  and  asked  him  if  he  had  bought  that 
automobile  he  was  talking  about.  This  started 
him,  and  he  finally  told  me  that  his  syndicate 
had  not  really  sold  its  patent,  but  had  sold  the 
privilege  of  making  certain  tests  of  it,  and  if  it 
would  do  what  was  claimed  for  it  a  company 
would  buy  it  outright;  but  as  yet  the  patent 
had  not  tested  out,  but  he  was  satisfied  with  his 
investment  so  far  and  hoped  for  the  best.  I 
figured  that  this  company  which  they  expect  to 
sell  out  to  will  find  out  how  the  machine  works 
and  put  some  sharks  on  the  job  and  manage  to 
get  around  Jackson's  patent,  so  it  may  be  that, 
after  all,  Al  is  no  better  off  than  the  man  who 
saves  his  salary  and  does  not  jump  at  every 
chance  that  comes  along  to  throw  his  money  into 
some  scheme  that  he  knows  nothing  about,  but 
who  tries  to  do  the  right  thing  by  his  daughter. 
Al  is  right  and  I  hope  he  makes  a  go  of  his 
invention,  but  if  he  doesn't  he  will  make  about 
as  much  as  he  could  have  made  if  you  figure  the 
money  value  of  his  lesson  in  following  the  advice 
of  a  man  who  knows  when  I  am  well  off". 

May  25. — Bill  Hines  blowing  into  my  place 
to-day,  looking  like  a  million  dollars,  and  saying 
he  had  certainly  thought  a  lot  about  me  during 
the  last  few  days,  as  I  am  one  of  his  best  friends 
and  about  the  only  one  that  is  not  sharing  in  the 


120  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

profits  of  that  little  deal  he  spoke  to  me  about  the 
other  day.  But  I  saying  that  I  am  satisfied, 
as  a  man  is  bound  to  make  a  few  mistakes  now 
and  then  when  he  has  a  number  of  small  invest- 
ments to  keep  active,  and  I  hope  that  when  he 
has  a  sure  winner  to  offer  again  he  will  look  me  up. 
Hines  is  a  good  example  of  a  man  that  took  a 
long  chance,  even  at  the  expense  of  losing  some 
friends,  and  won  out.  He  had  the  nerve  to  back 
his  judgment  against  a  lot  of  petty  fault-finders 
who  could  see  nothing  in  his  new  venture  but 
sure  ruin.  Looking  over  my  financial  affairs  and 
wondering  if  I  will  ever  get  anwhere  on  a  salary, 
and  thinking  that  as  soon  as  the  wedding  is  over 
and  we  have  only  small  bills  to  meet  I  will  look 
around  for  something  like  the  scheme  Hines  has. 
Home  to  a  good  dinner  and  to  read  a  fishing 
story  by  an  author  who  knew  nothing,  as  he  called 
a  fisherman  an  angler. 

May  26. — This  evening  I  thought  up  a  little 
scheme  to  get  Pep  back,  as  I  miss  that  dog  and 
see  no  reason  why  Polly  and  Ellen  should  not 
be  cooled  off  enough  by  this  time  to  make  some 
concessions  to  a  man  whose  daughter  will  soon 
be  married,  leaving  him  without  children  in  his 
home  and  with  a  soft  spot  for  a  dog,  as  people 
have  when  they  have  no  children  on  whom  to 
bestow  their  affection,  and  poor  Pep  is  down 
there  in  that  kennel  with  a  lot  of  dogs  of  one 
kind  or  another,  and  is  probably  having  to  fight 


May  i2i 

for  what  he  gets  to  eat  and  may  lose  his  good 
temper.  Thinking  it  over  and  deciding  that  the 
way  to  win  Polly  and  Ellen  over  is  to  give  them 
a  shock  -that  will  make  them  appreciate  Pep — 
nothing  rash,  as  when  I  once  threatened  to  leave 
home  on  account  of  him,  but  something  that 
will  impress  them.  A  man  might  put  on  a  fake 
robbery  of  some  kind,  showing  that  if  Pep  had 
been  around  the  house  we  should  not  have  been 
robbed.  Deciding  finally  that  this  will  be  a  good 
scheme,  and  only  waiting  for  a  chance  to  carry 
out  the  plot,  deciding  first  what  I  can  best  steal. 
May  2J. — That  Lowder  girl  getting  huffy  to- 
day because  I  forgot  she  was  married  to  Carder 
and  called  her  Miss  Lowder,  and  when  she  got 
mad  and  said  she  would  leave  if  I  persisted  in  for- 
getting that  she  is  now  Mrs.  Carder,  and  would 
do  so,  anyway,  if  her  husband  was  not  on  a  star- 
vation wage.  This  putting  an  idea  into  my  head, 
and  with  my  usual  promptness  I  put  it  into 
immediate  effect.  I  called  the  Carders  into 
my  office  at  closing  time  and  offered  him  a 
substantial  raise,  making  it  quite  clear  that 
he  could  now  afford  to  support  a  wife  without 
her  assistance,  they  falling  into  the  trap  and 
Ethel  agreeing  to  resign.  So  at  little  cost  the 
company  is  rid  of  the  Lowder  family  queen. 
Now  going  ahead  with  my  other  plan,  as  a  man 
who  could  get  rid  of  an  incompetent  girl  can 
easily  get  back  a  dog  that  others  have  got  rid  of. 


122  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

In  the  evening  saying  casually  at  the  dinner 
table  that  I  had  heard  of  several  robberies  in  the 
neighborhood  among  people  who  are  so  careless 
as  not  to  keep  watchdogs.  Polly  said  there  was 
nothing  in  the  paper  about  it,  but  I  said  that 
people  who  are  so  foolish  as  not  to  keep  a  good 
watchdog  are  ashamed  to  report  burglaries  to 
the  police,  hence  the  newspapers  never  learned 
about  them,  which  was  killing  two  birds  with 
one  stone,  for  I  don't  want  Polly  to  report  my 
fake  robbery  to  the  police  when  she  finds  it  out, 
which  will  be  soon,  my  plans  being  nearly  com- 
plete. Telling  Polly,  to  change  the  subject,  about 
my  clever  scheme  in  getting  rid  of  Ethel  Carder, 
she  replying  that  it  was  a  clever  scheme  on  some- 
body's part. 

May  28. — Working  around  my  yard  this  eve- 
ning and  talking  with  Janet  Walker,  telling  her 
about  Pep  and  asking  her  to  put  in  a  word  for 
him  if  she  got  a  chance,  saying  something  to 
Polly  and  Ellen  about  how  much  she  misses  Pep 
in  the  yard.  Hinting  to  Janet  that  it  will  be  all 
right  with  me  if  she  intimates  to  Polly  that  I 
look  worried  lately  and  am  losing  flesh,  sort  of 
mourning,  so  to  speak,  the  loss  of  my  dog.  A 
little  propaganda  like  that  does  a  man  no  harm, 
but  I  doubt  if  Janet  helps  me  much,  as  I  don't 
think  she  is  on  very  good  terms  with  the  neigh- 
bors. When  I  came  in  the  house,  Polly  asked  me 
if  Walker  came  home  and  scared  me  away.  I 


May  123 

asked  her  why  she  said  such  a  thing,  and  she 
said  something  about  how  chummy  Mrs.  Walker 
and  I  were  while  she  was  down  at  Oakcastle  to 
see  her  sick  sister.  I  had  a  few  words  to  say 
about  idle  women  having  nothing  to  do  but  run 
a  man  down,  etc.,  besides,  I  told  her  Mrs. 
Walker  was  kind  to  Pep  and  naturally  a  man 
would  show  some  interest  in  any  woman  that 
didn't  give  his  dog  to  the  ash  man. 

May  29. — Well,  the  house  is  quiet  and  the 
robbery  scheme  is  all  worked  out.  Fred  and 
Ellen  to  the  theater,  and  while  Polly  was  out 
somewhere  to  a  meeting  of  the  membership  com- 
mittee of  her  club,  I  broke  the  cellar  window. 
Reading  till  all  returned  and  went  to  bed,  then 
I  took  the  silver-backed  mirror  from  Polly's 
dressing  table  and  put  it  away  in  my  tackle  box 
in  the  attic.  The  whole  scheme  shows  what  a 
man  can  do  in  the  way  of  gaining  his  ends  by 
using  his  head  instead  of  by  asserting  his  au- 
thority, as  I  have  no  doubt  that  I  could  have  had 
Pep  back  at  any  time  by  getting  sore  and  raising 
a  rumpus,  threatening  to  have  my  way  about 
some  things.  But  Polly  and  Ellen  would  have 
taken  it  out  on  the  poor  dog,  whereas  now  they 
will  look  to  Pep  for  protection  and  treat  him 
right.  I  broke  the  glass  with  a  piece  of  coal  and 
cut  my  finger  a  little,  but  it  is  on  the  inside  of  my 
hand  and  not  likely  to  be  noticed.  The  plot  is 
complete  and  this  time  to-morrow  night  I  expect 


124  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

to  have  Pep  back  in  the  house  for  the  rest  of  his 
life. 

May  30. — This  is  Decoration  Day  and  I  guess 
I  ought  to  be  decorated  for  bravery,  as  I  still 
have  the  mirror.  Polly  missed  it  the  first  thing 
and  went  to  Ellen's  room  to  look  for  it,  while  I 
pretended  to  be  asleep  yet,  though  my  head 
was  aching.  Finally  I  got  up  and  she  asked  me 
if  I  had  seen  her  mirror,  and,  of  course,  I  said  I 
hadn't,  but  I  said  I  thought  I  had  heard  glass 
crashing  during  the  night.  Together  we  ex- 
amined the  house,  and  when  we  reached  the 
cellar  I  pointed  to  the  window  and  said,  "That's 
where  the  burglar  broke  in,  and  he  never  would 
have  got  in  if  Pep  had  been  here  to  raise  the 
alarm."  Polly  ran  upstairs  to  the  phone  and 
would  have  had  the  police  here  if  I  had  not 
stopped  her  by  saying  that  it  was  our  fault  and 
we  would  be  the  joke  of  the  neighborhood.  All 
would  have  been  all  right  if  Ellen  had  not 
noticed  that  the  glass  from  the  cellar  window 
was  on  the  outside,  and  I  had  to  explain  that 
the  burglar  probably  expected  to  take  the  glass 
away  with  him  and  forgot  it.  Anyhow,  I  now 
have  Pep  back,  and  all  is  well  except  Polly  said 
that  since  Pep  was  back  she  thought  her  mirror 
ought  to  be  returned. 

May  31. — Polly  or  Ellen  must  have  told  about 
the  burglar  at  church  yesterday,  as  that  Jackson 
girl  sat  down  beside  me  in  the  car  this  morning 


May  125 

and  said  she  heard  we  had  burglars.  Well,  no- 
body knows  the  truth,  so  I  told  her  that  it  was 
nothing  much,  as  I  discovered  the  man  just  as 
he  was  reaching  for  Polly's  jewelry  and  chased 
him  downstairs  and  thought  I  had  him  trapped 
in  the  basement,  but  he  plunged  headlong 
through  a  window  and  escaped,  the  only  loss 
being  a  beautiful  silver-backed  mirror  of  Polly's. 
And  I  asked  Beatrice  not  to  tell,  as  Polly  and 
Ellen  did  not  know  that  I  saw  the  man  and  would 
probably  be  badly  frightened  if  they  knew  the 
truth.  That  Jackson  girl  will  tell  our  whole  end 
of  town,  and  such  things  do  a  man  no  harm, 
showing  that  he  has  courage  to  defend  his  family. 
Polly  noticing  the  cut  in  my  finger  as  I  reached 
for  bread  at  the  dinner  table  and  asking  me 
about  it,  so  I  saying  that  I  cut  it  while  picking 
up  the  glass  which  was  broken  out  of  the  cellar 
window.  A  new  window  to-day  costing  me  $i  .65, 
which  is  a  lot  cheaper  than  paying  board  on  Pep, 
and  I  have  him  back  where  he  belongs.  Some 
day  I  may  tell  Polly  the  truth  and  we  will  have 
a  good  laugh  together. 


June 

June  I. — New  trouble  to-day  at  the  office,  for 
Carder  came  in  and  said  that  Minnie  Lowder  was 
here  to  see  me  about  the  matter  talked  over  with 
Ethel.  I  was  at  loss  to  know  what  he  meant,  but 
asked  him  to  send  her  in,  Minnie  proving  to  be  a 
very  pretty  girl  if  a  man  likes  that  kind  of  thing. 
She  said  she  had  come  to  take  up  the  burden 
which  Ethel  had  laid  down,  since  I  had  said  the 
family  had  to  be  represented.  I  had  never  said 
any  such  thing,  but  did  not  tell  her  so,  as  a  man 
cannot  tell  a  pretty  girl  she  is  lying,  especially 
at  first  sight  so  giving  her  a  job  at  low  wages. 
Think  she  will  prove  to  be  more  intelligent  than 
Ethel,  having  learned  to  judge  people  pretty 
well.  Polly  saying  at  the  dinner  table  this 
evening  that  she  thought  the  right  thing  to  do 
was  to  report  our  robbery  to  the  police,  as  they 
are  probably  searching  second-hand  stores  every 
day  and  can  look  for  her  mirror,  which  was  a 
wedding  present  from  her  rich  aunt — the  one 
who  died  and  left  all  her  money  to  be  divided 
among  six  churches  and  a  lot  of  lawyers  who 
defended  the  will — and  she  prized  it  for  its  tender 

126 


June  127 

associations  and  ought  to  have  it  back.  This 
setting  me  to  thinking,  and  I  finally  decided  that 
I  will  contrive  some  scheme  to  return  the  mirror 
without  doing  anything  that  will  cause  them  to 
suspect  that  the  robbery  was  a  fake.  Later  I 
said  something  about  my  tackle  and  went  to  the 
attic  for  the  mirror,  which  I  took  out  and  hid  by 
the  garage. 

June  2. — This  morning  I  dropped  a  casual 
remark  to  Polly  about  the  garage  lock  being 
broken  and  I  wondered  if  the  garage  was  locked, 
so  I  went  out  after  breakfast  to  see,  and  pretty 
soon  I  ran  back  to  the  house  breathless  with 
excitement  and  gave  the  mirror  to  her,  telling  her 
where  I  found  it,  in  the  bushes  near  the  garage, 
where  the  thief  had  thrown  it  as  he  ran  out  the 
back  way  and  through  the  alley.  Polly  was 
qertainly  glad  to  get  her  mirror.  The  whole 
scheme  was  worth  while  for  the  sight  of  her  face 
as  she  reached  for  the  mirror  and  kissed  it,  as  if 
she  had  recovered  a  long-lost  child.  She  could 
not  wait  till  Ellen  got  up  to  break  the  news,  but 
went  right  up  to  Ellen's  room  and  told  her  about 
it,  and  as  I  went  to  work  I  could  hear  them  laugh- 
ing, so  I  guess  the  incident  is  closed  and  I  have 
done  by  tact  a  thing  that  could  never  have  been 
done  any  other  way.  I  have  my  dog  back, 
Polly  has  her  mirror  back,  and  Ellen  no  longer 
fears  that  a  burglar  may  steal  her  wedding 
clothes,  and  it  is  certainly  fine  to  have  Pep  back. 


128  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

All  showing  that  it  is  better  to  use  my  head  than 
mere  brute  strength. 

June  3. — Charley  Quinn,  head  of  the  repair 
department  at  our  place,  trying  to  put  one  over 
on  me  to-day  about  some  stuff  which  he  said  was 
billed  out  wrong,  and  he  caught  me  just  right,  as 
I  have  wanted  to  land  on  him  for  sometime,  and  I 
let  him  have  both  barrels  at  once,  saying  that 
while  some  one  in  my  department  might  have 
made  a  mistake,  as  was  likely  to  happen  in  any 
department,  no  one  was  trying  to  get  his  depart- 
ment in  bad,  as  no  one  in  my  department  was  so 
dumb  as  not  to  know  that  his  department  is  too 
far  gone  to  be  helped,  anyhow,  and  the  best  thing 
he  could  do  for  the  company  is  to  lock  up  and 
quit  as  he  is  unmarried  and  has  no  responsibilities. 
He  changing  his  tune,  merely  saying  that  he 
wished  to  correct  an  error  which  might  be  costly 
to  the  firm  and  that  he  had  no  intention  of  causing 
me  to  lose  my  temper  in  the  presence  of  my  clerks. 
I  secretly  determining  to  watch  for  a  chance  to 
put  one  over  on  Quinn.  It  helps  a  man  to  let  it 
be  known  around  the  works  that  I  will  allow  no 
one  to  run  my  department  down,  but  will  make  a 
fool  of  anybody  that  knocks  it.  In  the  evening 
Polly  saying  that  she  had  lost  her  scissors  and 
Ellen  saying  that  I  might  find  them  near  the 
garage,  but  I  saying  nothing,  as  I  did  not  want 
to  risk  saying  something  that  would  make  her 
suspect. 


June  129 

June  4. — Well,  tonight  was  the  last  dance  of 
the  season  for  that  fool  dancing  club  that  Polly 
made  me  join  against  my  will  and  better  judg- 
ment, and  between  the  heat,  which  must  have 
been  around  a  hundred,  and  some  women  who 
cannot  dance  but  think  they  can  and  crave  a  lot 
of  fancy  capers  instead  of  regular  dancing,  I  am 
about  all  in  as  I  write,  which  is  long  after  mid- 
night. But  I  will  say  that  some  of  the  women  I 
danced  with  were  not  trying  to  act  like  sixteen- 
year-old  girls,  and  they  knew  good  dancing  when 
they  had  the  right  kind  of  partner,  as  one  woman 
said  to  me  that  for  a  man  who  had  not  danced  for 
years  I  was  doing  very  well  indeed.  I  let  it  go 
at  that,  as  it  would  probably  have  disappointed 
her  to  learn  that  I  was  at  a  dance  a  month  ago, 
when  she  wasn't  there.  Summer  is  no  time  for 
dancing,  especially  when  a  lot  of  women  forget 
that  they  are  grown  up  and  are  not  supposed  at 
this  late  date  to  act  like  high-school  girls.  Polly 
saying  on  the  way  home  that  I  should  take  some 
dancing  lessons,  but,  as  far  as  I  can  see,  it  is  most 
of  that  crowd  that  needs  the  lessons,  as  I  am 
satisfied. 

June  5.  — Calling  in  Minnie  Lowder  and  asking 
her  how  she  was  getting  along,  she  saying  that 
she  found  everything  hard  and  strange,  but  that 
all  the  young  men  had  been  kind  in  helping  her 
to  learn,  sometimes  two  of  them  at  a  time,  no 
doubt  out  of  respect  for  her  brother.  She  is  living 


130  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

with  the  Carders,  but  will  move  when  her  own 
circumstances  permit.  Suppose  she  is  already 
hinting  for  a  raise,  but  I  pretending  not  to  under- 
stand. The  invitations  for  Ellen's  wedding  are 
out  and  some  of  the  presents  are  coming  in,  and 
I  must  say  that  Ellen's  friends  and  relatives  are 
doing  the  right  thing  by  her,  no  doubt  feeling  that 
anything  they  do  for  her  is  not  wasted  on  the 
rest  of  the  family,  myself  included.  Fred's 
people  must  be  all  right,  as  they  are  sending  any 
number  of  pretty  things  for  Ellen,  including  a 
check.  This  afternoon  Ellen  and  Polly  started 
to  fix  up  that  bungalow  which  Fred  got  possession 
of  to-day,  and  this  evening  I  went  down  with 
them  and  Fred  to  look  it  over.  It  is  just  the 
thing  for  them  and  I  gaVe  it  my  O.  K.  Polly 
and  Fred  talking  furniture,  and  from  what  I  can 
gather  the  boy  has  saved  his  money  and  is  pre- 
pared to  furnish  the  house  right,  although  I  told 
Ellen,  while  Polly  and  Fred  were  talking,  that 
she  was  to  furnish  the  kitchen  to  suit  herself  and 
charge  everything  to  me,  as  I  know  the  kitchen 
will  be  her  great  pride  and  she  will  enjoy  having 
it  to  suit  herself  without  having  to  defer  to  Fred's 
views  about  it.  Ellen  is  as  happy  as  a  bird  and 
Polly  and  I  feel  that  we  have  done  the  wise  thing. 
June  6. — All  down  to  the  bungalow  to-day 
after  church  and  Ellen  talking  about  where  the 
piano  would  go,  and  I  finally  learning  that  what 
she  meant  by  "the  piano"  was  my  piano,  the  one 


June  131 

I  bought  for  her  when  she  was  five  years  old  and 
first  started  to  take  music  lessons.  It  is  a  good 
piano  and  is  an  ornament  to  our  home,  and  it 
never  occurred  to  me  that  Ellen  would  care  to 
take  it  along  with  her  when  she  was  married, 
especially  as  she  will  live  so  near  and  can  run  up 
to  our  house  and  play  it  whenever  she  feels  like 
playing.  But  she  talked  as  if  there  could  be 
no  two  sides  to  the  question  of  whether  she  should 
have  the  piano,  so  Polly  and  I  only  looked  at  each 
other  and  said  nothing  one  way  or  the  other,  as 
there  was  nothing  to  say  that  I  could  think  of. 
Anyhow,  the  piano  will  be  near  us,  and  when  we 
wish  to  hear  Ellen  play  we  can  go  down  to  her 
house  in  the  evening,  as  neither  of  us  plays. 
Fred  and  Ellen  doing  nothing  all  day  but  make 
sketches  and  notes  and  figures  and  discuss  how 
rooms  would  be  furnished  and  not  calling  on 
Polly  or  me  for  advice,  so  we  said  nothing. 

June  7. — No  sooner  home  this  evening  than 
Ellen  rushed  me  down  to  see  her  new  kitchen, 
showing  she  must  have  lost  no  time  taking  ad- 
vantage of  my  liberal  offer  to  furnish  it  for  her. 
A  range,  kitchen  cabinet,  refrigerator,  electric 
ironer,  electric  washer,  electric  dishwasher,  fire- 
less  cooker,  floor  lamp,  table,  and  chairs,  and  I 
was  tempted  to  ask  her  why  she  didn't  get  a 
flivver,  as  it  would  be  handy  to  run  around  in 
while  she  was  waiting  for  the  machinery  to  get 
her  work  done,  but  saying  nothing,  as  what  can 


132  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

a  man  do  when  his  only  daughter  is  getting 
married,  as  I  have  some  Liberty  bonds  tucked 
away,  anyhow,  and  will  go  the  limit,  within 
reason.  Having  some  private  words  with  Polly 
about  the  kitchen  while  Fred  and  Ellen  were  at 
the  movies  in  the  evening,  and  Polly  admitting 
that  Ellen  was  going  pretty  strong  and  should 
have  used  more  judgment,  but  she  said  it  was  my 
fault,  as  I  did  not  tell  Ellen  what  I  meant  by 
kitchen  furniture,  so  I  taking  Pep  for  a  walk  and 
passing  Al  Jackson's  house,  where  his  daughter 
was  sitting  on  the  porch  instead  of  getting  into  a 
home  of  her  own,  having  no  generous  father  to 
indulge  her  every  whim. 

June  8. — That  Jackson  girl  sitting  down  beside 
me  in  the  car  this  morning  and  asking  me  about 
Ellen's  wedding  presents  and  I  telling  her  in 
detail  about  the  kitchen  outfit  I  bought  for  Ellen, 
which,  the  more  I  think  of  it,  is  a  good  gift,  as 
Ellen  is  a  home  girl  and  will  get  a  lot  of  satis- 
faction out  of  her  kitchen.  And  she  knows  how 
to  run  it,  too,  and  is  starting  off  right,  and  not 
starting  off  the  way  so  many  girls  do  these  days, 
with  a  lot  of  clothes  and  business  experience,  but 
no  money  saved  out  of  their  earnings  to  help 
furnish  a  house  and  no  practical  experience  in 
home  making,  and  I  telling  that  Jackson  girl  about 
it  and  she  said  I  am  behind  the  times  and  must 
not  have  had  a  new  idea  since  the  Spanish- 
American  War,  to  which  I  replied  nothing  except 


June  133 

that  if  she  ever  got  married  she  would  learn  that 
I  told  the  truth.  Home  this  evening  to  find  the 
house  looking  strange  and  discovering  that  some 
pictures  are  missing,  Polly  saying  that  Ellen 
took  them  to  the  bungalow,  saying  two  of  the 
water  colors  I  bought  at  auction  several  years  ago 
are  just  what  she  needs  to  complete  her  living- 
room  color  scheme. 

June  p. — A  hard  day  at  the  office.  Straight- 
ening out  some  difficulties  caused  by  that  new 
Lowder  girl,  who  has  not  yet  begun  to  show  her 
abilities,  in  spite  of  much  help  from  the  new 
clerks,  and  home  to  a  meal  that  I  couldn't  say 
much  about,  except  to  remark  that  I  wished  I 
had  got  my  dinner  before  I  came  home.  Out 
to  the  garage  to  get  the  car  for  a  spin,  intending  to 
stop  somewhere  and  get  food,  but  the  car  not 
there.  Asking  Polly  about  it  and  she  said  Ellen 
used  it  this  afternoon  and  ran  it  into  the  garage 
at  her  bungalow  and  came  home  and  left  it  there. 
Ellen  and  Fred  downtown  to  dinner,  which  was 
all  that  prevented  a  few  remarks  that  I  might 
have  regretted,  but  I  laying  down  the  law  to 
Polly  and  saying  it  was  up  to  her  to  let  Ellen 
know  that  getting  married  did  not  mean  taking 
the  family  furniture  with  you.  I  went  down  to 
the  bungalow  and  ran  the  car  home,  and  then 
took  Polly  and  Pep  for  a  spin,  as  I  saw  that 
Polly  is  worn  out  preparing  for  this  wedding  and 
needs  some  recreation.  We  looking  up  a  colored 


134  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

woman  who  used  to  work  for  us  and  she  agreeing 
to  come  and  stay  till  after  the  wedding.  Men- 
tioning to  Polly  that  if  we  have  any  money  left 
after  the  wedding  we'll  have  to  take  a  long  trip 
in  the  car  and  enjoy  life  and  possibly  get  in  a  little 
fishing. 

June  10. — Home  to  find  that  the  movers  have 
been  here  to-day,  and  I  guess  that  we  are  lucky 
that  we  have  a  place  to  sleep  to-night.  Ellen's 
mahogany  bedroom  suite,  which  I  bought  for  her 
a  year  ago  when  she  was  graduated  from  school, 
is  the  biggest  item  on  the  missing  list,  and  the 
other  items  range  down  to  a  waste-paper  basket 
which  matches  the  wall  paper  in  Ellen's  spare 
bedroom.  Fred  was  here  for  dinner,  so  what 
could  a  man  say,  as  it  does  no  good  to  say  any- 
thing at  such  a  time  which  might  in  any  way  mar 
the  pleasure  they  are  getting  out  of  building  their 
nest,  and  when  I  consider  how  Carder  and  that 
Lowder  girl,  for  instance,  have  to  depend  upon 
my  generosity  to  make  a  home  for  themselves,  I 
guess  it  is  worth  while  to  let  Ellen  take  what  she 
has  to  have.  But  I  did  hide  some  of  my  books 
and  fishing  tackle,  and  I  took  my  big  wicker  chair 
to  the  basement  and  wired  it  to  a  post.  Down  to 
look  at  the  bungalow.  The  new  furniture  that 
Fred  bought  is  good  stuff,  what  there  is  of  it, 
which  is  the  right  way  to  buy,  and  I  told  both 
of  them  that  they  are  certainly  making  good  use 
of  their  heads. 


June  135 

June  II. — Things  are  about  ready  for  the 
wedding,  as  to-day  I  told  a  florist  to  fix  things  up 
for  the  occasion.  This  evening  Polly  and  I  talk- 
ing things  over,  and  I  putting  my  O.  K.  on  the 
plans.  It  seems  that  Ellen  and  Fred  are  going 
on  a  two  weeks'  trip  on  the  lakes  and  will  be 
back  around  the  first  of  July.  Ellen  has  her  head 
set  on  the  bungalow  being  ready  for  them  to  go 
right  into,  so  Polly  is  going  to  have  it  ready  for 
them,  even  to  a  steak  on  the  ice  in  the  refriger- 
ator, and  after  they  are  back  a  couple  of  days 
Polly  and  I  are  going  to  run  the  old  bus  out  and 
go  where  we  please  without  any  plans  at  all, 
except  to  rove  to  the  north,  where  I  may  be  able 
to  get  in  a  little  fishing.  Polly  needs  the  rest 
and  agrees  that  it  will  be  a  good  plan,  as  we  shall 
sort  of  go  on  a  second  wedding  trip  ourselves, 
celebrating  our  release  from  twenty  years'  care 
of  Ellen,  so  to  speak.  July  is  early  for  my  kind 
of  fishing,  but  if  we  get  far  enough  into  the  lake 
region  I  may  have  some  sport.  Getting  my  tackle 
out  this  evening  and  putting  everything  in  good 
shape,  so,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  am  all  ready  to 
go  now. 

June  12. — This  is  pay  day,  but  I  am  not  in- 
terested in  such  things  these  days,  as  my  pay 
means  nothing  to  me  compared  with  the  happi- 
ness of  my  daughter.  Lowder's  wife  coming  to 
see  me  and  urging  that  I  raise  Minnie's  pay,  as 
while  she  had  every  confidence  in  Carder,  it  was 


136  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

better  for  a  young  couple  starting  out  in  the  world 
alone  to  live  by  themselves,  which  they  would  do 
when  Minnie  could  afford  a  place  of  her  own.  I 
promised  to  give  the  matter  consideration,  as 
what  else  can  a  man  do?  Fred  not  at  the  house 
this  evening,  as  I  understand  some  of  the  boys  at 
his  place  are  giving  a  dinner  in  his  honor,  so  all  at 
our  house  going  to  bed  early  to  get  a  little  rest 
after  our  hard  week  preparing  for  the  wedding. 
June  13. — Planning  a  day  of  recreation,  but 
when  I  came  downstairs  I  found  that  my  day  had 
been  planned  for  me.  My  first  job  was  to  polish 
the  floors,  which  I  said  they  might  have  hired 
some  one  to  do,  but  Polly  said  she  never  could 
get  anyone  to  do  the  job  right,  all  leaving  spots 
unpolished,  which  was  I  careful  not  to  do.  Also 
putting  up  a  lot  of  curtains  and  moving  furni- 
ture around  and  missing  church,  and  poor  Pep 
looking  out  at  the  bright  day  and  then  at  me,  as 
if  to  say  he  certainly  pulled  a  boner  when  he 
happened  on  an  owner  that  was  a  household 
slave  and  had  no  time  to  play  with  his  dog. 
Fred  showing  up  in  the  evening,  looking  as  if  he 
had  spent  the  night  in  jail  or  in  a  Turkish  bath, 
and  Ellen  getting  curious,  but  I  coming  to  Fred's 
defense  with  a  caustic  remark  about  a  man  being 
entitled  to  a  last  fling,  as  he  would  probably  wind 
up  by  spending  a  fine  Sunday  polishing  floors,  as 
other  good  men  had  wound  up.  Taking  Pep  for 
a  walk  in  the  evening. 


June  137 

June  14. — The  Minnie  girl  showing  up  late 
this  morning  and,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  doing 
nothing  of  value  after  she  arrived,  so  I  finally 
called  her  into  my  office  and  kindly  explained  a 
few  things  about  the  company  expecting  some 
work  in  return  for  the  pay  given,  also  giving  her  a 
lecture  on  the  value  of  discipline,  punctuality, 
neatness,  and  industry.  If  this  has  no  effect  I 
must  consider  other  plans.  I  was  clever  enough 
to  get  rid  of  Ethel  and  I  guess  I  am  clever  enough 
to  get  rid  of  Minnie.  Home  in  the  evening  to 
find  the  place  so  cluttered  up  with  wedding 
presents  that  I  could  hardly  get  around.  Many 
of  Ellen's  friends  who  work  all  day  find  time  in 
the  evening  to  come  to  the  house  and  see  what 
she  has  got  and  to  rave  over  her  clothes,  which 
would  be  a  credit  to  any  bride,  as  I  have  not  put 
the  brakes  on  the  charge  accounts,  but  have  dug 
up  for  what  was  needed,  as  a  man  should,  there 
being  no  other  way  out  of  it  that  I  could  see,  as  I 
have  only  one  life  and  one  daughter  and  she  can 
have  anything  she  wants,  though  I  try  not  to 
lose  my  head,  as  it  seems  to  be  the  only  one  in  our 
family  these  days. 

June  75. — To-morrow  is  the  wedding  and  I 
was  thinking  to-day  that  it  would  have  been 
much  better  if  Ellen  had  waited  a  year  or  two, 
but  I  suppose  it  is  too  late  now.  A  letter  from 
Oakcastle  saying  Polly's  sister  is  bedfast  now  and 
seriously  ill,  and  Polly  is  very  much  upset,  as  she 


138  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

would  like  to  be  there,  but  owes  her  first  duty 
to  Ellen,  so  not  telling  Ellen  about  the  letter. 
Helping  this  evening  to  put  the  finishing  touches 
on  the  bungalow,  which  is  a  bright  and  dainty 
little  place,  a  credit  to  all  concerned,  especially 
the  kitchen,  which  has  been  praised  by  all  as 
a  model,  complete  in  every  respect,  even  to  a 
vacuum  cleaner,  which  Ellen  just  thought  of 
yesterday  and  which  will  come  in  handy  to  clean 
the  linoleum.  All  practicing  for  the  wedding, 
and  everything  all  right,  as  there  was  little  they 
needed  to  tell  me  about  my  part,  as  in  such 
matters  I  merely  follow  my  instincts.  And,  any- 
how, my  main  part  in  this  wedding  is  not  visible 
to  the  guests,  which  is  all  right,  as  I  am  about 
broke  and  I  guess  I  am  lucky  to  escape  without 
hanging  a  mortgage  on  the  house,  as  some  men 
would  have  done. 

June  16. — Well,  I  can't  say  much  for  this 
wedding,  except  that  on  such  occasions  it's  a  good 
thing  to  have  a  dog  around.  The  wedding  itself 
went  off  without  a  hitch,  that  Jackson  girl  catch- 
ing the  bouquet,  as  she  was  the  only  one  with  a 
reach  like  a  big-league  first  baseman,  and  Fred 
and  Ellen  getting  away  in  a  taxi  about  two  P.M. 
to  catch  their  train,  with  a  string  of  people 
trailing  after  them  as  if  they  had  stolen  the  taxi, 
and  before  we  quite  knew  what  had  happened 
there  was  no  one  left  at  the  house  but  Martha, 
the  colored  woman,  the  guests,  caterers,  and 


June  139 

florist  all  having  melted  away.  Looking  all 
around  for  Polly  and  finally  finding  her  upstairs 
lying  across  her  bed  and  all  in,  poor  girl,  and 
we  getting  out  some  baby  pictures  of  Ellen  and 
trying  to  laugh  about  how  cute  she  used  to  be  in 
her  curls,  but  not  having  much  luck  at  it,  as 
neither  of  us  felt  much  like  laughing,  and  for  my 
part  I  don't  know  how  we'll  get  along  around 
this  house  without  Ellen.  Bringing  Pep's  old 
cushion  out  of  the  cellar  and  fixing  a  bed  for  him 
in  the  living-room.  Reading  nearly  all  night, 
being  unable  to  sleep. 

June  77. — Back  to  the  office  this  morning  and 
finding  that  things  went  along  all  right  yester- 
day while  I  was  away,  as  I  have  my  force  all 
trained,  as  a  good  executive  should  have  his 
force.  One  clerk  spoke  to  me  about  how  much 
they  missed  me  yesterday,  as  he  was  stuck  for 
an  important  decision  and  had  to  wait  till  I 
came  this  morning  to  set  him  right.  He  is  a  good 
man  and  I  shall  have  to  look  into  his  request  for 
an  increase  in  pay,  which  he  spoke  to  me  about 
a  week  ago.  Home  to  find  the  house  looking  as 
usual,  except  that  you  might  think  an  auctioneer 
or  delinquent  tax  collector  had  taken  liberties 
with  my  furnishings  unless  you  knew  about  the 
bungalow.  Another  letter  from  Polly's  sister, 
and  Polly  saying  she  would  have  to  go  down  there 
right  away,  so  planning  to  go  to-morrow.  Getting 
out  my  fishing  tackle  in  the  evening  and  seeing 


140  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

that  everything  that  I'll  need  is  in  the  tackle 
box,  as  Ellen  and  Fred  will  be  back  pretty  soon 
and  Polly  and  I  can  start  on  our  first  real  va- 
cation in  twenty  years,  and  figuring  that  Polly 
might  want  to  try  fishing,  though  it  is  not  a 
woman's  sport. 

June  18. — Well,  Polly  got  away  to  see  her 
sister  all  right,  leaving  me  here  alone,  but  in  no 
mood  to  enjoy  a  little  liberty.  At  noon  to  a  rail- 
way ticket  office  to  get  some  folders  showing 
vacation  resorts  where  the  fishing  is  good,  having 
found  out  that  while  the  resorts  advertised  by 
the  railroads  may  be  fished  out,  there  is  usually 
some  good  fishing  near  same,  which  a  man  with  a 
car  can  reach  all  right.  Out  home  in  the  evening 
to  ask  Mrs.  Walker  if  she  would  care  to  look  after 
Pep  for  a  few  days,  and  she  saying  she  was  glad 
to,  as  she  is  very  fond  of  the  dog.  Then  spending 
the  evening  figuring  out  a  trip  we  can  take  as 
soon  as  Ellen  comes  home  and  finds  the  steak  on 
ice  at  the  bungalow  and  Polly  and  I  are  free  to  call 
our  time  our  own  and  to  roam  where  we  will, 
without  having  to  think  of  the  comfort,  health, 
and  future  of  a  child,  as  we  have  earned  the  right 
to  live  our  own  lives.  Planning  the  whole  trip 
and  figuring  that  we  can  cover  about  1,000  miles 
easily  enough  and  have  several  days  of  loafing 
without  any  cares  at  all.  Also  looking  over  my 
tackle  again,  as  a  man  ought  to  have  everything 
he  may  need  and  plan  things  ahead.  Beginning, 


June  141 

for  the  first  time,  to  feel  reconciled  to  Ellen's 
marriage. 

June  jp. — Pay  day  again  and  going  over  my 
accounts  and  finding  that  except  for  the  Liberty 
bonds  I  sold  I  am  not  so  bad  off,  and  that  by 
saving  more,  which  will  be  easy  now  that  only 
Polly  and  I  are  left,  I'll  be  able  to  come  out  on  the 
year  just  about  as  I  had  planned.  Estimating 
how  much  I  will  have  to  save  each  week,  and 
putting  myself  on  a  sort  of  budget,  and  beginning 
to-day  by  putting  this  week's  share  in  the  bank. 
I  am  now  in  a  place  where  I  can  put  away  enough 
money  so  that  with  my  insurance  and  property 
I  need  not  worry  about  a  comfortable  income  in 
my  old  age,  which  is  a  long  way  off;  but  a  man 
should  figure  on  such  things.  Writing  this  on 
the  train,  as  Polly  wired  to-day  that  I  had  better 
come  to  Oakcastle  for  the  week-end,  as  her  sister 
is  worse,  so  out  to  the  house  to  see  that  every- 
thing is  all  right  and  to  tell  Mrs.  Walker  that  I 
would  not  be  at  home  for  a  few  days  and  to  say 
good-by  to  Pep,  then  on  the  train  to  Oakcastle. 
I  hope  Polly's  sister  gets  better  right  away,  as 
otherwise  Polly  will  not  get  the  rest  that  she 
needs  after  the  hard  work  that  she  did  for  the 
wedding. 

June  20. — Staying  last  night  at  the  home  of 
Bob  Pence,  Polly's  eldest  brother,  and  this 
morning  over  to  see  Mary  Stark,  Polly's  sick 
sister,  and  getting  a  shock,  as  it  is  plain  that  the 


142  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

poor  girl,  Polly's  only  sister,  cannot  live,  which 
is  a  pity,  as  she's  only  twenty-eight,  the  baby  of 
the  family,  and  a  widow  with  two  children, 
Louise  and  Conrad,  Louise  being  five,  and  Con- 
rad, the  poor  little  devil,  being  only  a  little  over  a 
year  old.  She's  had  more  than  her  share  of  hard 
luck  now,  as  her  four  brothers,  all  living  in  this 
little  town,  haven't  done  what  they  could  have 
done  for  her,  and  at  that  two  of  them  have  no 
children.  Mary  seems  to  have  lost  courage,  and 
I  was  not  surprised  when  Polly  told  me  the  doctor 
said  Mary  was  likely  to  die  any  time.  I  could 
see  her  for  only  a  minute,  then  went  over  to  Jake's 
house  to  see  the  two  kids.  They  were  playing 
around  as  if  nothing  serious  were  the  matter. 
Back  home  this  evening  feeling  pretty  blue,  and 
to  a  movie  downtown  to  lift  my  spirits,  but  still 
thinking  of  Mary  and  hoping  she  will  somehow 
manage  to  pull  through. 

June  27. — Hardly  reaching  the  office  when  I  got 
a  wire  from  Polly  saying  that  Mary  died  early 
this  morning.  I  saw  the  chief  about  some  leave, 
then  out  to  the  house  to  get  Pep  to  take  along 
with  me,  as  I  noticed  that  Louise  and  Conrad 
have  no  dog  to  play  with  and  they  will  have  a 
great  time  with  Pep  while  I  am  down  there, 
as  he  will  help  them  to  forget  the  tragedy  in  their 
lives.  Polly  meeting  me  at  the  station  in  a  car 
and  saying  that  I  would  have  to  make  all  arrange- 
ments for  the  funeral,  as  her  brothers  seemed  to 


June  143 

think  that  it  was  up  to  me,  so  I  taking  Pep  over 
to  the  kids,  and  they  making  friends  right  away, 
Pep  even  letting  Conrad  pull  his  ears,  which  he 
won't  let  me  do.  Spending  most  of  the  day  look- 
ing after  little  things  and  finding  that  Mary  has 
her  home  mortgaged  to  the  hilt  to  her  brother, 
Bob,  who  confided  to  me  that  none  of  the  funeral 
expense  would  fall  on  me.  I  saying  nothing,  as  a 
man  should  hold  his  tongue  sometimes,  as  when 
among  his  wife's  relatives,  but  wondering  what 
will  become  of  the  kids,  as  they  are  the  main  item. 
June  22. — Thinking  we  would  get  some  word 
from  Ellen  to-day,  as  I  wired  her  at  the  hotel 
which  they  expected  to  reach  about  Sunday,  but 
no  word,  so  I  guess  I  missed  them,  which  is  as 
well,  as  there  is  no  reason  why  she  should  come, 
for  it  would  break  up  her  honeymoon.  Playing 
with  the  kids  most  of  the  morning,  helping  Louise 
to  build  a  doll  house  in  the  yard  at  Jake  Pence's, 
where  they  are  staying,  and  watching  Pep  play 
with  little  Conrad,  who  has  just  learned  to  walk 
and  is  having  a  lot  of  fun  finding  out  what  a  heck 
of  a  man  he  is  now  that  he  can  walk.  A  family 
conference  this  afternoon,  which  I  left  in  about 
ten  minutes,  as  they  began  to  divide  Mary's 
belongings  among  them,  which  I  suppose  is  all 
right,  as  the  estate  will  probably  not  net  even  a 
nickel  for  the  children.  Back  after  awhile,  and 
they  all  trying  to  pass  the  buck  about  the  kids, 
none  caring  to  take  them  unless  they  are  sepa- 


144  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

rated,  and  some  arguing  against  separating  them, 
but  only  showing  that  no  one  cared  to  take  them, 
and  when  things  got  warm  I  settled  the  matter 
once  for  all  by  saying  to  put  it  off  till  after  the 
funeral. 

June  23. — Holding  the  funeral  this  afternoon  at 
two  o'clock  and  the  preacher  giving  a  fine  sermon 
on  adversity  and  sacrifice  and  the  future  rewards 
of  courage  against  great  odds.  After  the  funeral 
Polly  and  I  taking  the  kids  over  to  Jake's  house 
and  seeing  that  they  were  all  right,  which  was 
easy,  as  the  baby  did  not  know  what  was  going 
on  and  pretty  little  Louise  could  not  realize  what 
had  happened.  Eating  supper  there,  then  Polly 
and  I  back  to  Mary's  house,  where  Polly  cried 
and  told  me  that  she  hoped  I  wouldn't  think 
badly  of  her  brothers  for  not  seeming  to  care  for 
Louise  and  Conrad,  but  the  fault  was  not  with 
them,  but  with  their  wives,  some  people  being 
selfish  when  it  is  not  their  own  side  of  the  family 
which  I,  not  being  that  way,  could  scarcely 
believe.  Finally  I  getting  a  bright  idea  and 
springing  it  on  Polly,  to  her  great  delight,  so  as  a 
result  we  are  going  to  say  that  the  children 
should  not  be  denied  by  the  city's  good  schools 
and  propose  to  take  them  home  with  us.  Bob 
Pence's  wife  coming  in  just  then  for  a  floor 
lamp,  and  I  giving  her  a  piece  of  mind  and  going 
for  a  lawyer,  making  up  my  mind  that  if  the 
estate  will  net  the  kids  a  nickel  they  shall  have  it. 


June  145 

June  24. — Well,  here  we  are  at  home  again, 
with  Louise  sleeping  in  Ellen's  old  bed,  and 
Conrad  sleeping  in  Ellen's  old  iron  crib,  and  Pep 
sleeping  on  his  cushion  in  the  living  room,  and 
Polly  telling  some  women  in  the  neighborhood  all 
about  it,  at  the  same  time  looking  at  children's 
fashions  in  the  back  of  a  magazine,  as  both  of  the 
kids  are  pretty  low  for  clothes.  Several  letters 
and  cards  from  Ellen  and  Fred  to-day.  They  are 
as  happy  as  a  pair  of  birds.  A  picture  of  them 
bathing  at  a  lake  resort,  and  a  fine-looking  couple 
they  make.  As  yet  I  haven't  had  time  to  figure 
out  where  we  stand  on  this  new  arrangement, 
but  Polly  and  I  have  decided  to  keep  the  kids  a 
secret  from  Ellen  and  Fred  and  have  a  surprise 
for  them  when  they  show  up  with  a  lot  of  stories 
about  where  they  have  been  and  what  they  have 
done.  Polly  finding  a  lot  of  Ellen's  old  dolls  and 
toys  in  the  attic,  but  I  finding  nothing  for  Conrad 
to  play  with  but  my  $8  reel,  which  he  hated  to 
give  up  when  he  had  to  go  to  bed.  He  and  Pep 
are  life-long  friends,  which  is  all  right,  as  Pep 
would  have  gone  stale  in  no  time  with  no  one  but 
Polly  and  me  around  him. 

June  25. — Back  to  the  office  this  morning  in 
good  time,  as  Conrad  wakened  up  at  five  o'clock 
and  as  near  as  I  can  make  out  wanted  the  reel, 
Pep,  Polly^  Louise  and  me  and  his  breakfast  all 
at  the  same  time.  Anyhow,  that's  what  he  got 
before  we  could  get  him  quieted.  Things  in 


146  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

fairly  good  shape  at  the  office,  as  I  have  my  force 
well  trained  for  just  such  emergencies;  but,  of 
course,  training  wears  out  in  time,  as  the  chief 
would  soon  find  out  if  I  should  go  away  for  about 
two  months.  The  Lowder  girl  still  a  problem 
which  I  must  solve.  Home  early  in  the  evening, 
but  too  late  to  play  with  Conrad,  as  he  was  in  bed, 
and  when  I  wakened  him  for  a  little  talk,  I  -doing 
the  talking,  as  he  is  not  that  far  along  yet,  Polly 
raised  the  deuce  and  said  he  was  on  a  schedule 
laid  down  by  some  woman  in  the  neigborhood 
and  was  not  to  be  disturbed,  so  I  telling  some 
stories  to  Louise  as  I  used  to  tell  them  to  Ellen, 
some  of  the  same  stones,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  and 
they  are  still  good,  as  Louise  got  sleepy  at  once. 
The  children  almost  wore  Pep  out  to-day,  as  when 
I  reached  home  he  was  too  tired  to  get  up  from 
his  cushion.  No  movies,  as  we  have  to  stay  at 
home  with  the  kids,  which  is  a  good  thing,  as  the 
pictures  have  not  been  any  good  lately. 

June  26. — Leaving  the  office  at  noon  to-day 
and  rushing  home  to  take  care  of  the  children 
while  Polly  went  shopping  for  them,  she  taking 
the  car  alone,  as  it  would  be  too  much  for  the 
children  to  hang  around  with  me  in  the  car, 
waiting  for  her.  I  taking  Pep  and  the  children 
to  the  park,  where  we  taught  Pep  to  chase  a 
stick  into  the  pond  and  bring  it  back.  Louise 
could  not  get  enough  of  the  swings,  and  while  I 
was  swinging  her  and  Conrad  was  playing  in  the 


June  147 

sand  box,  Pep  thought  he  smelled  a  rat,  I  guess,  as 
he  began  to  dig  in  the  sand,  throwing  sand  over 
Conrad  and  some  other  children  and  getting  it 
in  their  eyes  and  hair,  so  I  taking  him  and  the 
kids  away,  as  Pep  should  have  been  on  a  chain, 
anyhow.  Staying  so  late  at  the  park  that  both 
children  were  too  tired  to  walk,  so  I  having  to 
carry  them  home,  where  Polly  was  waiting  to  give 
me  the  devil  for  not  showing  more  discretion. 
The  children  had  their  bath  and  their  supper 
and  went  right  to  bed,  and  Polly  and  I  planned  a 
picnic  for  to-morrow.  Neighbors  in  to  see  the 
children  all  morning,  Polly  reports,  and  asking 
all  about  them.,  and  no  doubt  thinking  that  I  had 
done  a  fine  thing. 

June  27. — Up  at  five  o'clock  again  this  morn- 
ing, and  I  saying  to  Polly  that  if  Conrad  is  on  a 
schedule,  for  Heaven's  sake  cut  out  the  five- 
o'clock  station  or  put  him  on  a  through  sleeper, 
but  she  saying  nothing,  as  by  the  time  I  was 
through  talking  she  was  in  Conrad's  room,  telling 
him  what  an  abused  baby  he  is.  Not  that  I 
care  to  crab  the  deal,  or  anything  like  that,  but  as 
long  as  a  man  doesn't  have  to  get  up  at  five 
o'clock,  and  as  long  as  a  baby  can  do  his  sleeping 
any  time,  I  favor  letting  him  cry  it  out  a  few 
mornings  till  he  learns  to  turn  over  and  go  to 
sleep  again,  as  he  will  have  to  learn  some  day. 
All  in  the  car,  up  the  river  ten  miles  to  a  place 
where  I  have  fished,  and  spending  most  of  the 


148  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

day  there,  getting  along  all  right  till  Polly  told 
me  to  watch  the  kids  while  she  set  out  the  picnic 
dinner,  but  Louise  chased  a  butterfly  into  the 
woods,  and,  just  as  I  went  after  her,  Conrad  tried 
to  throw  a  stick  in  the  river  for  Pep,  and  fell  in, 
and  I  had  to  wade  in  with  my  clothes  on  and  pull 
him  out,  while  Polly  chased  Louise,  and  Pep  got 
into  the  sandwiches,  knowing  no  better,  for  he  is 
only  a  dog. 

June  28. — Riding  down  on  the  street  car  this 
morning  with  that  Jackson  girl,  and  she  asking 
all  about  Louise  and  Conrad,  and  I  saying  that 
with  Ellen  happily  married,  as  a  girl  should  be, 
and  settled  for  life,  we  made  up  our  minds  at  our 
house  that  since  we  are  still  young,  as  you  might 
say,  we  had  better  make  some  use  of  our  time,  so 
we  took  Polly's  sister's  children  to  bring  up,  as 
children  are  hardly  any  trouble  at  all  to  experi- 
enced parents.  Considering  my  success  in 
finding  a  husband  for  Ethel  Lowder,  I  believe  I'll 
look  around  for  a  man  for  Beatrice.  Telling  her 
also  that,  as  I  am  doing  pretty  well,  I  might  as 
well  spend  some  of  my  extra  money  on  these 
children,  so  somebody  will  get  the  benefit  of  it. 
Beatrice  is  a  great  talker,  and  it  will  do  me  no 
harm  to  have  her  going  around  our  end  of  town 
saying  that  I  certainly  did  the  right  thing  by 
Mary's  children,  even  if  she  does  add,"  Well,  he 
ought  to,  he  has  the  money."  Home  with  a  doll 
for  Louise  and  a  ball  for  Conrad,  but  he  was 


June  149 

asleep.  Louise  taking  the  doll  to  bed  with  her. 
Polly  and  I  were  tired,  so  we  spent  the  evening  on 
the  porch,  I  telling  Polly  that  we  might  in  time 
grow  somewhat  fond  of  the  children. 

June  29. — This  morning  Polly  got  a  wire  from 
Ellen  saying  they  expected  to  arrive  this  eve- 
ning, so  Polly  taking  the  children  down  to  the 
bungalow  and  getting  it  in  shape,  including  the 
ice  and  the  steak  in  the  ice  box,  and  seeing  that 
everything  was  ready  for  them  to  step  into  the 
house  and  say,  "This  is  our  home."  A  little 
trouble  with  Quinn  to-day,  he  saying  that  he  was 
overworked  in  the  repair  department,  while  I 
had  things  pretty  soft  with  plenty  of  help.  I 
merely  replying  that  a  winning  team  always 
appeared  to  be  taking  things  easy.  He  getting 
the  point  and  not  expressing  himself  to  any  more 
hot  shots.  Home  in  the  evening  with  a  pair  of 
roller  skates  for  Louise  and  a  linen  picture  book 
for  Conrad,  as  he  likes  to  tear  books  to  pieces,  and 
at  dinner  Polly  telling  me  all  about  the  house; 
so  when  Louise  went  to  bed  I  got  the  key  to  the 
bungalow  and,  without  telling  Polly  where  I  was 
going,  went  down  for  a  look  at  the  kitchen,  to 
see  that  everything  was  all  right,  and  that  Ellen 
would  have  no  reason  to  complain  that  I  had 
failed  to  do  all  I  could  to  make  her  home  coming 
a  success.  Having  a  narrow  squeak,  as,  just  as 
I  was  ready  to  leave,  Ellen  and  Fred  blew  up  in 
a  taxi,  and  I  had  to  escape  out  the  back  way. 


150  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Home  to  sit  on  the  porch  with  Polly,  and  pretty 
soon  here  came  Ellen  for  a  minute  to  borrow  some 
salt.  She  is  tanned  up  from  being  on  the  lake  and 
looks  like  a  million  dollars,  and  glad  to  see  us 
again. 

June  50. — Hurrying  home  this  evening  to  see 
how  things  went,  and  Polly  reporting  that  when 
Ellen  walked  in  about  noon  and  saw  Louise  and 
Conrad  playing  on  the  porch,  she  almost  fainted 
and  for  a  minute  would  not  believe  that  her  aunt 
Mary  is  gone  and  the  children  have  come  to  live 
with  us.  She  was  so  jealous  that  she  went  right 
back  to  her  bungalow  and  stayed  an  hour. 
Evidently  she  fought  it  out  and  decided  that  we 
have  lives  of  our  own  to  lead,  now  that  she  has 
left  us.  I  never  thought  of  Ellen  being  jealous  of 
the  children.  Ellen  and  Fred  up  to  the  house  in 
the  evening,  and  Polly  and  I  letting  them  do  all 
the  talking,  hearing  all  about  their  fine  wedding 
trip  and  how  glad  they  are  to  be  back  to  make  a 
real  start  in  life.  They  taking  the  car  out  for  a 
spin  to  see  some  of  their  friends,  but  Polly  and  I 
sitting  on  the  porch,  it  just  occurring  to  me  that 
there  will  be  no  fishing  trip,  as  we  have  to  look 
after  the  kids;  but  it's  really  too  early  for  good 
fishing,  anyhow,  so  I  saying  little  or  nothing  to 
Polly  about  it.  The  kids  keep  her  on  the  hum  all 
day,  though,  and  I  hope  that  she  gets  out  oftener 
in  the  machine. 


July 

July  i. — Well,  here  it  is  another  month,  as  I 
see  by  the  top  of  this  page.  They  certainly  do 
come  and  go.  No  weather  to  speak  of,  as  things 
are  about  normal,  except  that  it  got  pretty  hot 
to-day,  being  ninety-two  degrees  in  the  shade. 
The  clerks  in  the  office  are  now  taking  vacations. 
Two  or  three  are  away  all  the  time,  while  most  of 
the  others  are  talking  about  where  they  went,  or 
what  those  who  are  away  are  doing,  or  what  they 
intend  to  do  when  their  vacation  time  comes. 
For  my  part,  I  favor  locking  the  office  up  for 
two  weeks  and  having  it  over.  There  is  too 
much  lingering  to  suit  me.  Besides,  a  vacation 
is  not  much  use  to  anybody,  anyhow,  as  I  have 
observed  that  the  clerks  who  do  the  least  work 
spend  the  most  time  talking  about  what  they 
are  going  to  do  when  they  go  on  their  vacation. 
Many  of  the  young  clerks  feel  that  they  must 
confide  in  the  Lowder  girl,  who  would  demor- 
alize any  office  force  if  it  were  not  for  my  firm 
discipline.  The  kids  will  keep  me  at  home  this 
year,  I  guess,  so  I  don't  like  to  hear  all  this  talk 
about  vacations  from  people  who  have  no 


152  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

responsibilities.  Ellen  kept  the  kids  this  after- 
noon while  Polly  went  shopping,  and  this  evening 
she  told  me  she  hoped  that  Polly  and  I  knew 
what  we  were  doing  when  we  took  them,  as  we 
did. 

July  2. — As  I  went  to  the  car  line  this  morning 
I  saw  a  girl  taking  a  couple  of  kids  out  for  an 
airing,  and  thought  that  Polly  should  have  some 
one  to  help  her  with  Louise  and  Conrad,  as  other- 
wise they  will  wear  her  out  or  something  like 
that,  so  in  the  evening  saying  something  about 
it  to  Polly,  and  she  thinking  it  will  be  a  good 
thing  and  saying  she  thinks  she  can  get  a  school 
girl  to  help  her  for  a  few  weeks,  until  she  can  find 
some  one  with  experience.  This  will  shave  my 
savings  a  little,  but  it  does  a  man  no  harm  to 
have  people  see  a  nurse  girl  taking  a  couple  of 
children  out  and  saying,  "Those  are  the  children 
the  Blicks  took  to  bring  up,  and  from  the  way 
Sam  is  going  about  it  he  must  be  getting  some- 
where in  the  world,"  which  would  not  be  far  from 
the  truth.  Most  men  my  age  would  not  think  of 
assuming  the  responsibility  for  bringing  up  two 
babies,  but  I'm  not  that  kind,  and  only  regret 
that  I  hardly  ever  see  them  except  when  they  are 
asleep.  They  are  looking  better  on  proper  food 
and  plenty  of  play  with  Pep,  and  Pep  is  losing 
weight  but  gaining  muscle. 

July  j. — Pay  day  again  and  I  buying  a  lot  of 
fireworks  for  the  children,  which  the  police  won't 


July  153 

let  us  shoot  in  the  city,  but  that  not  bothering 
me,  as  I  phoned  to  Walter  Martz,  who  lives  up 
the  river  where  I  used  to  fish  some,  and  has  seven 
or  eight  children  and  a  farm,  and  telling  him  I'd 
furnish  the  fireworks  if  he'd  furnish  the  show 
grounds,  and  he  saying  to  come  along.  Polly 
objecting,  saying  we  could  not  shoot  the  rockets 
till  dark,  and  that  would  mean  getting  Conrad 
home  long  after  his  bedtime,  but  I  saying  the 
Fourth  of  July  comes  only  once  a  year  and  Con- 
rad has  only  once  to  live,  anyhow,  and  he  might 
as  well  enjoy  life  as  he  goes  along,  as  I  remember 
when  I  was  a  boy  we  looked  forward  to  the  Fourth 
of  July  for  a  month.  Anyhow,  I  finally  won  out, 
as  Martz's  kids  were  probably  expecting  big 
things  and  I  had  the  fireworks  bought,  anyhow. 
A  man  must  be  firm  sometimes,  as  women  don't 
go  to  war  and  can't  realize  how  much  a  lot  of 
noise  and  sparks  mean  to  a  boy  on  the  Fourth  of 
July.  Ellen  and  Fred  going  to  a  picnic;  but  I 
don't  worry  about  them,  anyhow,  as  I  have 
troubles  of  my  own. 

July  4. — Everything  went  off  all  right  to-day, 
as  it  was  bound  to,  I  having  planned  all  details, 
like  buying  the  fireworks,  but  leaving  the 
children  and  the  lunch  to  Polly  and  a  girl  named 
Etta  Berry,  about  sixteen,  who  is  to  come  every 
day  and  help  with  the  children  and  leaves  her 
mouth  open  all  the  time.  Taking  the  kids  to 
church  in  the  morning,  as  it  will  do  them  good  to 


154  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

get  the  habit,  and  it  does  a  man  no  harm  to  be 
seen  coming  into  church  at  my  age  with  two 
young  children  he  has  taken  from  his  wife's 
relatives  to  bring  up  right,  as  I  can  say  for  myself 
that  not  every  man  would  do  that.  Driving  up  to 
Martz's  place  in  the  afternoon,  and  after  his 
children  and  mine  got  over  being  afraid  of  one 
another  and  got  to  shooting  firecrackers,  we  all 
watched  them  till  dark.  Then  I  shot  the  sky- 
rockets, as  children  should  not  be  trusted  with 
fire  that  way,  and  having  a  great  time,  except 
that  it  was  after  Conrad's  bedtime  and  the  little 
fellow  went  to  sleep  and  missed  it  all;  but  Louise 
had  a  good  time  learning  about  the  Fourth  of 
July  and  will  make  a  good  citizen  and  vote 
right,  when  I  have  explained  to  her  the  differ- 
ence between  the  right  and  wrong  parties. 

July  5. — One  of  the  clerks  back  from  his  va- 
cation to-day  and  telling  me  about  catching  nine 
black  bass  in  three  mornings'  fishing,  casting  at 
daylight  with  a  wooden  plug  along  some  lily 
pads  in  a  little  lake  up  north;  and  though  at 
first  I  thought  he  was  lying,  he  may  have  had  a 
little  luck  at  that.  Thinking  that  even  with  the 
kids  to  look  out  for  I  might  get  in  a  little  fishing 
this  year,  as  it  unsettles  a  man's  mind  to  sit 
around  and  think  that  one  of  his  clerks,  making 
thirty  berries  a  week,  has  been  out  and  had  some 
real  sport,  as  you  might  say,  while  I  have  to  sit 
in  the  office  and  grind  away  all  summer.  Any- 


July  155 

how,  a  man  needs  a  change  of  scenery  every  so 
often.  Speaking  to  Polly  about  it  in  the  evening, 
and  she  suggesting  that  I  get  away  by  myself  for 
a  few  days,  but  I  saying  that  I  would  not  do 
that,  but  would  stay  at  home,  unless  all  could  go, 
and  help  take  care  of  the  children  and  not  waste 
money  on  a  vacation.  Louise  grew  lonesome  this 
evening  and  cried  for  her  mother  and  I  had  to  tell 
her  fairy  stories  till  nearly  ten  o'clock. 

July  6. — Riding  down  with  Walker  this  morn- 
ing and  he  asking  how  the  children  are,  I  saying 
that  they  are  all  right  and  he  has  no  idea  what  a 
comfort  they  are  to  a  man  and  how  it  bucks  him 
up  to  know  that  they  are  dependent  upon  him 
and  that  he  is  largely  responsible  for  what  they 
will  be  in  this  world,  and  a  lot  more  talk  like 
that,  I  figuring  that  his  best  chance  to  hold  Janet 
is  to  have  a  large  family,  as  otherwise  she  is 
likely  to  get  tired  of  him  alone  and  never  be 
content.  He  saying  nothing,  however,  but  talk- 
ing about  the  weather  and  asking  me  if  my  car 
runs  all  right  and  a  lot  of  other  things  not  on  the 
subject  that  we  were  talking  about  at  all.  In 
the  evening  asking  Polly  if  Mrs.  Walker  ever 
sees  our  children,  and  she  saying  that  Mrs. 
Walker  is  crazy  about  them  and  cries  because  her 
husband  thinks  children  are  a  nuisance,  but  I 
saying  nothing,  as  a  man  should  not  tell  all  he 
knows  all  the  time.  Conrad  is  getting  to  be  quite 
a  man,  saying  something  that  Polly  says  is 


156  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Pep's  name,  but  I  notice  that  Pep  gets  out  of  the 
way  when  he  hears  it,  as  the  children  wear  him 
our  every  day,  which  is  all  right. 

July  7. — This  is  Louise's  fifth  birthday  and 
Polly  having  some  little  girls  from  the  neighbor- 
hood in  to  a  party,  at  which  I  guess  everybody 
had  a  good  time,  as  Pep  hasn't  come  back  from 
Walker's  house  yet,  where  Polly  says  he  goes 
when  the  children  razz  him  till  he  can't  stand  it 
any  longer.  I  getting  a  set  of  little  dishes  for 
Louise  and  a  little  cart  for  Conrad,  as  you  have 
to  be  careful  when  there  are  two  children  that 
way.  When  you  get  something  for  one  you  must 
get  something  for  the  other  at  the  same  time.  I 
asking  Louise  who  was  the  prettiest  girl  at  the 
party,  and  she  saying  she  was,  not  being  old 
enough  to  know  how  conceited  it  sounded,  and 
I  giving  her  a  little  talk  on  conceit,  as  these 
children  now  have  a  chance  to  be  brought  up 
right  with  people  who  keep  their  heads  and  are 
doing  more  for  them  than  most  people  would  do. 
The  children  seem  to  feel  at  home  now,  calling 
Polly  "mother"  and  me  "dad,"  but  they  can't 
figure  Ellen  and  Fred  out,  so  I  told  Louise  to  call 
them  aunt  and  uncle,  as  I  am  young  enough  to 
pass  for  Ellen's  older  brother,  having  lived  right 
all  my  life,  especially  lately. 

July  8. — Calling  that  Lowder  girl  into  the 
office  to-day  and  asking  her  some  questions, 
finding  out  that  she  knows  a  good  deal  about  the 


July  157 

office  force,  but  very  little  about  the  office  work, 
I  had  a  serious  talk  with  her  and  was  considering 
letting  her  go,  but  she  saying  that  it  was  hard  to 
do  her  best  work  because  on  account  of  her  low 
pay  she  was  compelled  to  live  with  her  sister  and 
things  were  not  altogether  happy  there.  Her 
large  blue  eyes  filled  with  tears  and  she  looked 
very  helpless.  She  said  she  was  sorry  to  take  the 
young  men  from  their  work,  but  this  seemed  to  be 
due  to  a  cause  beyond  her  control,  I  getting  the 
point.  I  ended  by  giving  her  the  raise  she  asked 
for  so  she  could  leave  the  Carders'  roof.  She 
was  pathetically  grateful  and  I  think  will  now  do 
better  and  be  a  credit  to  the  department. 

July  9. — While  at  lunch  to-day  with  a  few 
men  from  the  office  the  talk  turned  to  life  insur- 
ance, which  reminded  me  that  while  I  am  getting 
along  all  right,  I  should  carry  a  little  more  life 
insurance,  putting  my  savings  into  it,  for  if 
something  was  to  happen  to  me  now,  Polly  might 
get  along  all  right,  but  she  could  not  take  care  of 
the  children  very  well  and  I  might  as  well  boost 
my  insurance  while  I  am  still  a  young  man,  as 
you  might  say,  and  can  get  a  comparatively  low 
rate,  and  will  have  no  trouble  about  my  health, 
having  always  taken  care  of  myself  and  gone  on  a 
vacation  every  year  to  keep  myself  in  good  con- 
dition. Saying  something  to  Polly  about  it  in 
the  evening,  and  she  not  saying  much,  but  sort  of 
lukewarm  on  the  proposition,  perhaps  thinking 


158  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

how  much  it  cost,  but  more  likely  thinking  about 
what  would  happen  if  I  was  to  have  something 
happen  to  me,  which  would  naturally  depress  a 
woman  who  has  a  good  husband  and  provider. 

July  10. — Hurrying  home  at  noon  to-day  and 
spending  the  afternoon  working  on  the  car,  ex- 
cept that  Louise  gave  a  tea  with  some  dishes  that 
I  gave  to  her  on  her  birthday,  and  came  out  to 
the  garage  and  invited  me  to  the  tea  and  finally 
talked  me  around  till  I  took  off  my  overalls, 
washed  up,  and  went  to  her  tea,  which  was  a 
great  success,  except  that  I  was  supposed  to  be 
another  little  girl  and  had  some  trouble  getting 
my  imagination  to  work,  and  then  Conrad 
finished  his  nap  and  played  around,  as  a  boy  will, 
finally  pulling  the  tablecloth,  with  all  the  dishes, 
off  on  the  floor,  and  causing  a  row,  which  I 
settled  by  allowing  Louise  to  help  me  wash  the 
car,  which  she  did  all  right  till  she  turned  the 
faucet  the  wrong  way  and  shot  a  stream  of 
water  in  my  face.  I  can't  see  that  girls  are  any 
easier  to  bring  up  than  boys,  as  it  seems  that 
girls  try  to  do  not  only  everything  that  girls  do, 
but  also  everything  that  boys  do,  like  helping  to 
wash  the  machine.  All  for  a  ride  in  the  after- 
noon, mostly  around  the  neighborhood,  as  it  does 
a  man  no  harm  to  be  seen  taking  his  happy  and 
well-dressed  family  for  a  ride. 

July  II. — To  church  this  morning,  as  all-day 
automobile  trips  are  too  tiresome  for  the  children 


July  159 

and  we  might  as  well  go  over  to  church  in  the 
morning,  as  I  believe  the  children  should  be 
brought  up  right.  A  good  sermon  by  some  young 
preacher  who  filled  the  pulpit  while  our  preacher 
is  on  his  vacation,  but  the  congregation  didn't 
have  much  pep,  and  as  for  my  part,  I  don't 
think  a  man  should  be  blamed  for  nodding  a 
little,  and  perhaps  blinking  from  trying  to  keep 
his  eyes  open,  although  Polly  said  that  it  created 
a  bad  impression,  leading  people  to  believe  that 
I  had  been  sitting  up  all  night  playing  cards  or 
something  like  that,  whereas  I  was  not,  but  sat 
on  the  porch  till  bedtime.  Taking  the  children 
for  a  ride  in  the  afternoon  and  not  having  much 
fun,  as  the  roads  were  all  cluttered  up  with  cars, 
there  being  too  many  of  them,  so  that  some  law 
ought  to  be  passed  prohibiting  a  man  from 
driving  a  car  unless  he  can  pay  cash  for  it,  etc. 
But  there  are  too  many  people,  anyhow,  and 
most  of  them  would  probably  get  around  the  law 
one  way  or  another,  that  being  what  most  people 
think  laws  are  for,  these  days. 

July  12. — Home  to-night  to  find  the  neighbor- 
hood buzzing,  as  Mrs.  Walker  came  over  to  our 
house  this  morning  and  told  Polly  that  she  was 
going  back  east  to  her  home  to  stay  for  good,  as 
she  was  convinced  that  she  had  made  a  mistake 
in  leaving  her  family  and  in  marrying  a  man  so 
much  older  than  herself.  While  they  were  talk- 
ing, Mrs.  Vickers  came  in,  and  Mrs.  Walker  told 


i66  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

the  story  to  her,  so  it  is  in  general  circulation. 
This  afternoon  Walker  came  home  and  in  about 
an  hour  he  took  Mrs.  Walker  and  her  baggage 
away  in  his  sedan,  and  no  one  has  seen  them 
since.  As  far  as  I  can  tell,  this  is  about  what  I 
expected,  as  Walker  should  have  known  better, 
though  Janet  should  also  have  known  better  than 
to  encourage  him;  but  as  it  was  up  to  him  to 
make  the  decision,  he  is  really  to  blame;  but  that 
makes  no  difference  to  me,  as  I  told  Polly,  for  it 
is  their  business  and  not  ours,  and  I  told  her  that 
I  didn't  care  to  hear  another  word  about  it,  which 
does  me  no  harm,  showing  that  I  am  above  prying 
into  neighbors'  affairs  and  will  have  nothing  more 
to  do  with  the  scandal,  if  it  is  a  scandal,  as  we 
shall  soon  know. 

July  JJ. — Riding  down  with  Walker  this 
morning  and  he  telling  me  that  he  is  a  pretty  flat 
tire,  as  he  supposed  I  knew,  his  wife  having  told 
him  that  she  had  to  tell  her  troubles  to  some  one, 
and  came  over  to  our  house  and  spilled  the  beans. 
Walker  is  a  good  fellow  and,  as  far  as  I  can  see, 
he  was  probably  led  to  believe  that  the  girl  was 
crazy  about  him,  when  she  probably  only  thought 
of  how  she  could  make  out  on  his  $12,000  salary. 
I  finally  suggested  that  some  of  us  in  the  neigh- 
borhood ought  to  write  to  Mrs.  Walker  and  tell 
her  how  we  miss  her,  etc.,  as  maybe  that  would 
make  her  homesick.  He  grabbed  at  the  straw 
that  broke  the  camel's  back  and  said  he  thought 


July  161 

it  was  a  good  scheme,  and  gave  her  address  to  me, 
so  as  soon  as  I  got  to  the  office  I  sat  down  and 
dictated  a  long  letter  to  her,  explaining  that 
Conrad  cried  for  her  and  we  all  missed  her  and 
thought  she  ought  to  come  back  to  her  husband, 
as  was  her  duty,  she  having  married  him  with  her 
eyes  open.  Home  in  the  evening  to  a  good  dinner 
and  to  hear  Louise  tell  about  going  to  the  park 
with  Etta  and  playing  with  a  lot  of  other  children 
which  is  good  for  them,  especially  if  the  children 
are  all  right. 

July  14. — Remembering  at  the  breakfast  table 
this  mprning  what  Walker  said  about  the  neigh- 
bors writing  to  Mrs.  Walker,  and  telling  Polly 
about  it.  She  asked  who  suggested  it,  and  I  took 
the  credit,  as  was  true,  whereupon  she  said  that 
for  a  man  that  was  through  interfering  in  the 
neighbors'  affairs  I  was  showing  a  peculiar  interest 
in  Mrs.  Walker.  I  said  nothing,  letting  her  be- 
lieve whatever  happens  to  be  on  her  mind,  but 
merely  remarking  that  I  saw  no  harm  in  trying 
to  reunite  a  married  couple  temporarily  separated 
by  a  little  tiff,  as  you  might  say.  Riding  down 
town  with  that  Jackson  girl,  who  asked  me  if  it 
was  true  that  Walker  had  locked  his  wife  out  of 
the  house  and  made  life  so  miserable  for  her  that 
she  had  to  leave  him.  I  said  no,  but  I  did  hear 
that  he  had  poisoned  her  coffee  and  set  fire  to 
the  house  at  least  five  times,  but  she  not  getting 
the  point,  so  I  explained  that  I  was  joking,  as 


162  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

you  must  be  careful  what  you  tell  a  woman  like 
that,  who  must  have  a  card  index  of  her  gossip 
to  keep  her  from  repeating  it  to  the  same  people, 
as  otherwise  she  would  lose  her  clients. 

July  75. — This  was  a  hard  day  for  Polly,  as, 
while  Etta  and  Louise  were  hunting  four-leaf 
clovers,  and  Pep  was  getting  a  little  rest  behind 
the  garage,  now  that  Walker's  house  is  closed, 
Conrad  strayed  down  the  street  and  gave  them 
all  a  fright  until  they  found  him  eating  gravel  in 
a  driveway,  and,  not  knowing  how  much  he  had 
eaten,  they  sent  for  the  doctor  and  worried  about 
him  and  thought  he  was  going  to  die  until  the 
doctor  looked  him  over  and  asked  who  was  sick. 
I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  stay  at  home  and  take 
care  of  the  children,  as  it  should  be  no  trick  at  all 
to  keep  them  in  sight,  but  a  man  has  to  leave 
such  things  to  his  family.  Ellen  and  Fred  up  in 
the  evening  to  sit  on  our  porch.  Now  that  they 
have  been  married  a  month  they  are  beginning  to 
act  human  again,  and  I  guess,  from  something 
Polly  said,  that  they  had  a  little  argument  over 
how  a  grapefruit  ought  to  be  .prepared  for  the 
table,  and  Ellen  came  to  Polly  for  advice,  and 
Polly  had  to  beg  off,  saying  that  her  husband 
always  said  a  grapefruit  wasn't  worth  the  trouble 
of  eating,  as  I  guess  I  did  once  say. 

July  16. — Al  Jackson  coming  into  my  place  to- 
day grinning  all  over  and  saying  that  the  patent 
he  is  interested  in  has  turned  out  to  be  all  that 


July  163 

it  promised  to  be  and  that  he  has  been  offered  a 
carload  of  money,  more  or  less,  for  it,  and  that 
any  time  I  need  a  little  jack  to  call  on  him  for  it, 
as  he  will  return  past  favors.  I  always  knew  that 
Al  would  hit  it  right  sooner  or  later,  as  a  man  who 
is  always  playing  some  game  like  that  on  the  side 
generally  manages  to  make  a  piece  of  money  in 
the  long  run.  Al  took  me  out  to  lunch  and  said 
that  the  fact  is  that  the  things  look  so  good  that 
he  is  going  to  quit  work  this  fall  and  get  a  good 
machine  and  take  his  family  for  a  tour  of  the 
West.  I  suppose  he  knows  what  he  is  doing,  all 
right,  but  I  told  him  a  few  things  for  his  own 
good,  saying  he  would  probably  have  a  good  deal 
of  tire  trouble  in  the  deserts,  but  I  could  not 
shake  him  in  his  determination.  Telling  Polly 
about  it  in  the  evening  and  she  saying  that  she 
was  glad  to  hear  that  Al  had  nerve  enough  to 
break  away  from  his  desk  and  get  out  and  take 
a  look  at  the  world. 

July  17. — Pay  day  again  and  I  figuring  where 
I  stand,  and  none  too  well  pleased,  as,  when  I 
count  in  the  Liberty  bonds  I  had  to  sell  on 
account  of  having  some  wedding  expenses  to 
meet,  I  am  not  much  ahead  so  far  this  year,  but 
in  fact  am  in  the  neighborhood  of  $469  worse  off 
than  I  was  the  first  of  the  year,  which  is  not 
worrying  me  much,  as  the  money  was  spent  for 
good  purposes  and  not  squandered  on  some 
patent  or  a  bale  of  oil  stock.  But  at  the  same 


164  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

time  figuring  how  much  I  will  have  to  save 
every  week  to  have  plenty  of  money  put  by  at 
the  end  of  the  year,  and  figuring  that  by  pinching 
a  little  here  and  there  I  can  come  out  all  right  and 
have  the  satisfaction  of  keeping  my  resolution 
to  save  something  this  year.  Taking  home  candy 
for  Polly,  a  story  book  for  Louise,  and  a  ball  for 
Conrad,  as  he  must  sooner  or  later  learn  to  play 
ball.  But  when  I  got  home  the  whole  family  was 
out  in  the  machine,  and  I  felt  pretty  blue  about  it, 
as  when  a  man  comes  home  after  a  hard  week's 
work  and  brings  some  trinkets  for  his  family,  he 
likes  to  find  some  one  there,  if  nobody  but  Pep. 

July  18. — A  hot  day  and  the  children  fretful 
and  hard  to  please,  so  I  telling  Polly  to  stay  at 
home  and  have  a  minute  to  herself  and  I  would 
take  them  for  a  ride  out  to  the  park  where  the  so- 
called  zoo  is,  which  I  did;  but  as  both  children 
and  Pep  insisted  on  sitting  on  the  seat  beside  me, 
I  was  cramped  and  nearly  ran  over  a  traffic  cop 
who  made  me  pull  into  the  curb  while  he  bawled 
me  out  in  front  of  the  children,  saying  a  man  my 
age  ought  to  have  more  sense  than  to  drive  a  car 
with  children  and  dogs  on  the  seat  beside  him, 
and  I  saying  that  if  he  had  more  sense  he  would  be 
driving  a  car  instead  of  standing  in  the  middle  of 
the  street  all  day  Sunday  telling  better  men  how 
to  keep  from  running  into  one  another.  He  not 
getting  the  point,  but  giving  me  a  summons  to 
traffic  court  in  the  morning,  and  I  saying  all 


July  165 

right,  I'd  be  there,  as  a  man  should  not  argue 
with  a  cop  too  long.  After  I  get  through  telling 
the  judge  about  the  way  the  cop  bawled  me  out 
I  have  an  idea  there'll  be  a  vacancy  on  the  traffic 
force.  Going  for  a  long  ride  in  the  afternoon  out 
in  the  country,  where  there  are  no  traffic  cops 
and  a  man  is  free  to  conduct  his  own  affairs  in  his 
own  way. 

July  ig. — Going  over  to  the  traffic  court  to- 
day and  finding  myself  charged  with  violating 
the  traffic  ordinance  and  disorderly  conduct. 
The  judge  asked  me  what  I  had  to  say  about  it, 
and  I  told  him  it  was  pretty  warm  and  I  guessed 
I  spoke  up  pretty  quickly  when  the  cop  stopped 
me,  and  probably  offended  him,  which  I  had 
no  intention  of  doing,  telling  the  judge  just  what 
I  said.  The  cop  then  telling  his  side  of  the  story, 
and  I  could  see  that  a  man  who  has  to  stand  out 
there  and  dodge  flivvers  eight  hours  a  day  must 
have  a  pretty  hard  job.  The  judge  finally  dis- 
missing me,  saying  that  if  I  ever  came  into  his 
court  again  he  would  throw  me  in  jail.  I  said 
nothing,  as  a  man  should  keep  his  thoughts  to 
himself  once  in  a  while.  Deciding  not  to  try  to 
get  the  cop's  job,  as  for  all  I  know  the  man  has 
two  or  three  kids  at  home  and  cannot  afford  to 
be  out  of  a  job.  In  the  evening  buying  a  box 
of  cigars  and  driving  out  that  way,  getting  there 
just  as  the  cop  was  leaving,  and  giving  him  the 
cigars  and  hauling  him  down  to  the  station  and 


i66  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

finding  out  that  he  is  all  right  after  you  know 
him. 

July  20. — Home  this  evening  to  find  a  letter 
from  Mrs.  Walker  which  Polly  handed  to  me 
already  opened,  the  letter  saying  that  she  ap- 
preciated the  interest  the  neighbors  took  in  her 
affairs  and  that  she  was  really  sorry  that  the 
children  and  Pep  missed  her  so  much,  and  they 
were  having  lovely  weather  at  her  old  home,  and 
a  few  more  remarks  like  that.  But  nothing 
about  coming  back  to  her  husband.  Polly  asking 
me  what  I  had  written  to  Mrs.  Walker  and  I 
saying  little  or  nothing,  except  that  I  told  her  she 
had  better  come  back  to  her  husband,  as  every- 
body in  the  neighborhood  sided  with  him  and  she 
was  losing  out.  I  then  saying  that  I  would  take 
the  letter  over  to  Walker,  as  he  had  probably  had 
no  word  at  all  from  Janet  and  would  enjoy  even  a 
look  at  a  letter  from  her,  but  Polly  saying  that  I 
had  made  a  bad  matter  worse  and  to  keep  away 
from  Walker.  I  guess  maybe  she  is  jealous  of 
Janet,  thinking  it  funny  that  Janet  and  I  should 
be  writing  to  each  other  about  domestic  affairs 
and  her  separation,  so  I  saying  nothing,  but 
playing  with  the  children  a  while.  Polly's  idea  is 
absurd,  of  course,  but  still  it  wouldn't  happen  to 
everybody. 

July  21. — Riding  down  this  morning  with 
Walker  in  his  sedan  and  asking  him  how  he  liked 
being  a  bachelor  again,  but  he  saying  nothing,  as 


July  167 

he  is  not  a  talkative  man,  but  rather  standoffish. 
Then  asking  him  if  his  wife  was  still  set  on  de- 
serting him,  and  if  so  how  soon  did  he  intend 
trying  to  get  a  divorce.  He  saying  that  it  had 
not  occurred  to  him  in  that  light,  and  then  about 
what  a  hot  day  it  was  yesterday,  which  it  was, 
as  I  have  failed  to  note  in  this  diary,  always 
forgetting  to  put  down  the  weather  every  day  as 
a  man  should,  especially  if  he  has  fished  or 
gardened  much  and  learned  to  keep  close  track 
of  the  weather.  Conrad  is  staying  up  a  little 
later  now,  as  it  is  too  hot  for  him  to  go  to  bed 
early,  and  I  am  getting  acquainted  with  him. 
He  is  a  husky  youngster,  weighing  thirty-three 
pounds  and  looking  to  me  like  good  material  for 
a  ball  player,  as  he  throws  his  ball  all  the  time, 
trying  to  get  Pep  to  chase  it,  which  Pep  does  for 
a  while  till  he  gets  tired,  when  Conrad  beats 
him  with  a  stick.  Pep  is  having  a  hard  time 
these  days,  but  he  can  put  up  with  it. 

July  22. — Bob  Pence,  Polly's  brother,  dropping 
in  for  dinner  this  evening,  saying  he  was  in  town 
to  a  lodge  convention  and  thought  he  would  come 
out  to  the  house  and  ask  about  the  children.  I 
giving  Polly  the  wink  and  telling  Bob  that  the 
children  are  perfect  in  every  way,  which  is  the 
truth,  and  then  I  went  ahead  and  told  him  that 
all  of  our  neighbors  and  friends  think  they  are 
wonderful  children  and  that  we  are  fortunate  in 
getting  them,  as  it  would  have  been  a  shame  to 


i68  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

leave  them  down  in  that  hick  town  where  they 
would  have  been  neglected  and  probably  never 
would  have  amounted  to  anything.  Letting  him 
have  it  with  both  barrels,  so  he  will  go  home  and 
tell  his  relatives  that  we  are  proud  of  the  children 
and  that  the  children  should  have  been  kept  in 
Oakcastle.  Few  people  would  have  taken  a 
chance  on  bringing  up  two  children  as  I  have 
done  at  my  age,  and  it  won't  do  me  any  harm  for 
that  Oakcastle  bunch  to  realize  that  I  showed 
them  up  as  a  lot  of  pikers,  etc.  Bob  staying  all 
night  and  I  talking  all  evening  about  the  children, 
not  letting  him  get  in  a  word. 

July  23. — I  guess  what  I  said  to  Bob  last  night 
about  the  children  had  some  effect,  as  after  I 
went  to  work  this  morning  he  told  Polly  that 
they  had  had  another  meeting  down  at  Oak- 
castle and  decided  that  since  all  had  been  con- 
tributing to  the  support  of  Mary  and  her  children 
before  Mary  was  taken,  it  would  be  no  more  than 
right  that  they  should  contribute  to  the  support 
of  the  children  now  that  I  have  them,  saying  they 
would  give  $10  a  month  each,  or  $40  a  month  for 
the  two  children.  At  first  I  was  tempted  to  tell 
Polly  to  write  to  them  that  we  are  perfectly  able 
to  take  care  of  the  children  and  scorn  their 
money,  but  on  second  thought  deciding  that  the 
best  thing  to  do  is  to  take  the  money  and  put  it 
in  the  bank  to  the  credit  of  the  children.  By  the 
time  they  are  grown  up  it  will  amount  to  enough 


July  169 

to  send  them  both  through  college,  so  I  saying  all 
right,  as,  anyhow,  it  would  probably  make 
Polly's  brothers  feel  mean  to  think  that  their 
brother-in-law  is  the  only  one  in  the  family 
willing  to  do  the  right  thing  by  their  sister's 
children,  so  deciding  to  take  the  money. 

July  24. — Dictating  a  long  letter  to  Bob  Pence 
to-day  and  telling  him  that  I  was  glad  to  learn 
from  Polly  that  he  had  seen  the  error  of  his  ways 
in  not  taking  the  right  interest  in  the  welfare  of 
Mary's  children,  and  that  since  he  had  reformed 
I  would  do  what  I  could  to  ease  his  mind  and 
would  therefore  take  the  $40  a  month  for  the 
kids.  But  also  saying  to  him  that  the  money  is 
nothing  to  me,  as  it  is  the  principle  I  am  interested 
in,  and  if  it  will  pinch  them  to  spare  the  $40  a 
month,  not  to  think  of  sending  it,  even  though 
anybody  can  see  that  it  is  the  only  fair  thing  to 
do.  I  didn't  spare  him  much.  Figuring  to-day 
that  with  this  £40  each  month  for  the  children  I 
will  be  able  to  come  out  pretty  well  this  year,  for 
although  I  suppose  the  money  is  not  really  mine, 
the  Pences  don't  know  that  I  am  keeping  it  for 
the  children,  and  what  they  don't  know  won't 
hurt  me  any.  Home  to  play  with  the  children 
and  for  a  ride  in  the  car,  Ellen  driving,  as  she 
keeps  the  car  at  her  house  a  good  deal  of  the  time, 
which  is  all  right  with  me  as  long  as  Fred  takes  a 
little  care  of  it. 

July  25. — Remembering  when  I  got  up  this 


170  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

morning  that  this  is  my  birthday,  and  thinking 
that  no  one  else  remembered  it,  as  there  was  no 
necktie  at  my  place  at  the  breakfast  table,  but 
after  we  all  went  to  church  and  finally  had  dinner 
with  Fred  and  Ellen  up  at  our  house,  Polly  sur- 
prising us  all  with  a  big  cake,  but  only  ten  candles 
on  it,  and  it  was  hard  to  tell  whose  birthday  it 
was  till  I  spoke  up  and  said  it  was  mine.  Enjoy- 
ing the  party,  as  few  things  make  a  man  feel 
better  than  to  have  some  one  remember  when  his 
birthday  is,  especially  if  they  tell  him  he  looks 
so  much  younger  than  he  is.  For  a  ride  in  the 
afternoon,  and  in  the  evening,  after  the  kids  were 
put  to  bed,  tired  out  and  happy  after  their  day 
of  playing  and  riding,  seeing  Walker  pottering 
about  his  little  yard  and  asking  him  to  come  over 
and  sit  with  Polly  and  me  on  the  porch,  which  he 
did,  I  asking  him  when  Janet  was  coming  back  to 
him  and  he  saying  he  expected  her  to-morrow, 
showing  that  I  must  have  read  his  mind,  a  gift 
I  have  when  people  are  troubled  with  things  I 
know  about. 

July  26. — Everything  going  all  right  at  the 
office.  Noticing  to-day  that  Carder  seems  to  be 
losing  his  pep,  as  I  guess  probably  that  Lowder 
girl  he  married  is  sitting  at  home  all  day  thinking 
of  something  for  him  to  do  when  he  gets  home  in 
the  evening,  or  reading  about  some  new  movie 
star  to  tell  him  about  at  dinner,  which  talk  no 
man  cares  to  hear  from  his  wife,  but  would  like 


July  171 

to  hear  something  in  praise  or  at  least  appreci- 
ation of  his  efforts  to  make  ends  meet.  I'll  have 
to  keep  an  eye  on  him  and  see  that  he  does  not 
slump  off.  He's  with  us  for  life,  I  can  see  that,  as 
generally  happens  when  a  clerk  with  no  special 
ability  or  ambition  gets  married  on  nothing  but 
his  pay.  Such  men  make  good  workers,  as  they 
are  generally  too  scared  to  take  a  day  off  and 
look  for  a  better  job.  Carder  is  probably  that 
kind,  as  I  can  tell  by  looking  at  him  now,  al- 
though I'll  admit  that  I  once  thought  he  was  a 
comer  and  might  advance  to  the  head  of  a 
department.  But  even  a  man  like  me  will  some- 
times make  mistakes  in  judging  men.  Minnie 
Lowder  has  gone  to  a  boarding  house,  true  to  her 
promise  to  me,  but  her  work  has  not  yet  shown 
the  improvement  expected.  My  secretary  telling 
me  that  the  other  girls  in  the  office  think  I  have 
made  a  special  favorite  of  Minnie  because  of  her 
good  looks,  but  I  have  made  it  a  life  rule  never  to 
consider  what  other  people  may  think. 

July  27. — Mrs.  Walker  didn't  come  yesterday, 
as  expected,  having  missed  her  train,  but  showed 
up  to-day,  bringing  a  Boston  terrier  almost  like 
Pep  along  with  her,  and  hardly  had  the  cur 
landed  at  her  house  till  he  came  over  in  our  yard 
to  get  an  eyeful  and  got  too  close  to  Conrad, 
which  made  Pep  mad,  as  it  would  any  respect- 
able dog,  so  Pep  did  the  proper  thing  and  got  the 
cur  by  the  neck,  and  women  came  running  from 


172  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

all  directions  and  tried  to  part  them,  and  Mrs. 
Walker  finally  did  so  by  putting  pepper  in  Pep's 
nose,  which  made  him  sneeze  and  let  go.  When  I 
got  home  in  the  evening  Louise  and  Polly  and 
Conrad  all  tried  to  tell  me  about  it  at  the  same 
time,  so  I  finally  got  the  whole  story,  and  found 
Pep  in  the  cellar  without  a  scratch  on  him,  which 
was  lucky,  as  otherwise  I  would  have  made  short 
work  of  that  Walker  woman's  mongrel.  She 
coming  over  in  the  evening  and  trying  to  laugh 
about  it,  and  asking  me  what  to  do  for  her  dog's 
wound,  and  I  saying  that  as  she  put  pepper  on 
Pep  she  might  try  salt  on  her  dog's  wounds,  but 
laughing  about  it,  so  as  not  to  offend  a  guest  even 
though  owning  a  vicious  dog.  Mrs.  Walker  say- 
ing nothing  about  my  part  in  bringing  her  back 
to  her  husband,  perhaps  not  realizing  that  Polly 
knew  all  about  it. 

July  28. — Polly  saying  this  morning  at  break- 
fast that  maybe  we  had  better  keep  Pep  in  the 
basement  for  a  few  days  until  Mrs.  Walker's  dog, 
which  is  named  Caesar,  which  is  an  insult  to 
Caesar's  memory,  I  think,  gets  used  to  his  new 
home,  as  he  was  a  gift  from  her  father  and  she  is 
very  proud  of  him  and  cried  when  he  was  hurt, 
but  I  saying  that  since  she  brought  a  savage  dog 
into  the  neighborhood  and  he  was  licked  by  a 
better  dog,  I  thought  it  was  up  to  her  to  cage 
him  and  not  up  to  us  to  tie  our  dog  in  a  dark 
cellar,  which  Polly  presently  thought  was  right. 


July  173 

I  suppose  this  is  what  I  had  coming  to  me  after 
bringing  Walker  and  his  wife  back  together 
and  saving  him  and  her  both  from  the  divorce 
court,  as  it  was  none  of  my  business  and  I  should 
not  have  interfered.  At  noon  going  to  a  lawyer 
to  find  out  my  rights,  and  he  saying  if  the  dog 
trespassed  on  my  property  to  attack  my  dog 
I  could  go  as  far  as  I  liked,  which,  as  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  is  a  grave  in  the  dog  cemetery  for 
Caesar.  Home  in  the  evening  to  find  that  Mrs. 
Walker  had  a  veterinarian  for  her  dog  to-day 
and  he  is  better,  but  I  hope  he  has  learned  his 
lesson. 

July  29. — That  Jackson  girl  riding  down  on  the 
car  with  me  this  morning  and  saying  that  she  had 
been  to  see  Ellen  and  thought  I  had  certainly  done 
the  right  thing  in  fixing  Ellen's  kitchen  up  with 
all  modern  conveniences,  as  housework  and  the 
care  of  children  are  the  two  great  drawbacks  to 
marriage,  otherwise  nearly  all  girls  would  be 
married,  and  a  modern  kitchen  cuts  the  house- 
work in  half.  I  saying  that  as  far  as  I  could  see 
the  shortage  of  men  is  another  drawback  to  some 
marriages,  and  she  saying  it  wasn't  the  quantity, 
but  the  quality,  which  reminded  me  that  I 
intend  to  find  a  husband  for  her  but  haven't  got 
around  to  it  yet.  Home  in  the  evening  and  sur- 
prised to  find  Mrs.  Walker  and  her  dog  both  over 
in  our  yard  playing  with  Etta  and  the  children 
and  Polly  and  Ellen  acting  as  if  they  had  been 


i74  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

playing,  too.  Pep  must  have  made  up  his  mind 
that  it  will  do  no  good  to  kill  Caesar,  and  if  he 
cares  to  associate  with  him  it  will  be  all  right  with 
me.  Looking  Caesar  over  and  finding  that  he  is 
not  much  hurt  and  is  only  a  pup,  probably 
knowing  no  better  than  to  jump  Pep. 

July  jo. — All  down  to  Ellen's  house  this  eve- 
ning for  dinner,  and  I  must  say  that  she  certainly 
did  well.  She  has  her  bungalow  fixed  up  as  snug 
as  a  nest,  and  with  everything  bright  and  shining 
she  could  not  ask  for  a  better  start  in  life.  Polly 
and  I  going  all  over  the  house  again.  Every- 
thing is  perfect.  The  washing  machine  and  ironer 
have  been  moved  to  the  basement,  where  the  tubs 
are,  and  both  show  that  Fred  has  seen  to  it  that 
Ellen  takes  good  care  of  them.  The  way  Ellen 
has  her  kitchen  cabinet,  range,  electric  dish- 
washer, and  refrigerator  arranged  could  not  be 
improved  upon.  She  hardly  has  to  move  out  of 
her  tracks  to  get  what  she  needs.  The  more  I 
think  of  it  the  more  I  think  I  did  the  right  thing 
in  sparing  no  expense  in  furnishing  her  kitchen, 
as  housework  is  one  of  a  girl's  burdens  when 
she  gets  married,  and  it  will  do  me  no  harm  to 
have  people  say  that  I  was  thoughtful  and  con- 
siderate, providing  just  what  was  needed  in  the 
kitchen.  The  dining  room,  living  room,  hall  and 
two  bedrooms  are  pretty.  Polly  and  I  saying  on 
the  way  home  that  Ellen  should  be  happy, 
especially  in  her  kitchen. 


July  175 

July  31. — Riding  down  with  Walker  and  he 
looking  ten  years  younger  since  I  persuaded  his 
wife  to  come  back  and  live  with  him,  as  she 
should  do,  as  he  is  all  right,  the  mere  fact  that  a 
man  is  a  few  years  older  than  his  wife  making 
no  difference  one  way  or  the  other  if  both  are 
determined  to  make  a  success  of  marriage,  as  I 
have  done,  always  making  allowances  for  Polly's 
opinions  and  getting  my  own  breakfast  nearly 
every  morning  before  we  got  hold  of  Louise  and 
Conrad,  who  naturally  get  up  early  and  get  us 
up  at  the  same  time,  which  is  all  right,  as  early 
to  bed  and  early  to  work  is  a  good  motto  to 
impress  upon  children  while  they  are  yet  young. 
Asking  Walker  if  his  wife  expected  to  stay  with 
him,  and  he  saying  she  appears  to  be  very  happy, 
so  I  saying  no  more  about  it,  as  in  such  cases  a 
man  should  use  some  tact,  Walker  probably  being 
sensitive  about  being  deserted  and  thinking  that 
the  neighbors  are  all  talking  about  him,  which 
they  are.  Pay  day  and  putting  money  in  the 
bank,  in  my  economical  way,  then  home  with 
little  presents  for  all  and  to  spend  the  evening 
smoking  my  pipe  on  the  porch. 


August 

Aug.  i. — Up  early  this  morning,  a  good  habit 
about  which  there  is  no  choice,  as  Conrad  wakes 
up  and  demands  food  and  his  playthings,  of 
which  he  now  has  a  small  basketful,  mostly  balls 
which  I  have  brought  home  to  him,  being  very 
thoughtful  in  that  respect.  Grinding  the  valves 
on  my  car,  and  while  trying  it  out,  along  came  a 
flivver  full  of  young  people  with  a  girl  in  front 
learning  to  drive,  and  a  young  fellow  teaching 
her.  She  started  toward  me  and  he  grabbed  the 
wheel,  and  although  I  climbed  the  curb  trying  to 
get  out  of  their  way,  I  hit  the  flivver  a  glancing 
blow  and  turned  it  over  on  its  side  and  smashed  a 
front  wheel  and  fender  on  my  bus.  The  young 
fellow  admitted  that  it  was  his  fault  and  the  cop 
arrested  him  for  driving  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 
street.  Nobody  was  hurt,  but  we  were  knocked 
out  of  a  ride  to-day,  which  is  all  right,  as  it  rained 
and  the  young  fellow  said  he  would  arrange  with 
any  garage  I  named  to  have  my  car  put  back  in 
the  best  of  condition,  so  I  will  lose  nothing  by 
the  accident,  but  will  go  to  court  and  tell  the 
judge  that  it  was  an  accident. 

176 


August  177 

Aug.  2. — Down  to  police  court  this  morning 
where  the  traffic  judge  tried  to  make  me  say 
that  the  young  fellow,  Beecher  by  name,  was 
guilty  of  about  six  violations  of  the  traffic 
ordinances,  but  I  saying  he  was  a  good  fellow 
and  all  right,  so  they  let  him  go.  Trying  to  find 
him  after  court,  but  seeing  nothing  of  him. 
Thinking  to-day  that  maybe  I  should  have  made 
that  letter  to  Bob  Pence  a  little  stronger,  as  he 
is  likely  to  get  the  idea  that  I  will  be  sore  if  he 
sends  money  to  me  for  the  support  of  the  children. 
It  would  be  like  him,  as  he  can  hold  on  to  a 
nickel  as  long  as  any  man  I  know.  Home  to 
find  all  well.  Pep  and  Caesar  romping  on  our 
lawn,  and  Pep  getting  rough  and  I  giving  him 
smack,  as  an  older  dog  should  not  abuse  a  puppy 
that  way,  a  smart  young  puppy  like  Caesar,  who 
looks  to  me  as  if  he  would  grow  up  to  be  a  fine 
dog.  Beecher  came  to  my  house  this  evening  in 
his  flivver,  which  looks  as  good  as  new,  and  took 
me  to  the  garage  and  arranged  to  have  my  bus 
fixed  up,  which  is  all  right,  as  I  didn't  really  think 
that  he  gave  me  the  slip  this  morning,  for  judg- 
ing people  is  one  of  my  strong  points. 

•dug-  3- — When  I  got  home  this  evening  I 
found  a  letter  from  Bob  Pence  inclosing  a  check 
for  $40,  showing  that  they  got  together  down  at 
Oakcastle  and  did  the  right  thing,  as  I  knew  they 
would  if  they  got  the  point  in  my  letter  that  I 
thought  they  were  a  lot  of  pikers,  and  it  would 


178  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

make  no  difference  to  me  one  way  or  the  other 
what  they  did.  Polly  asking  how  we  had  better 
spend  the  money,  and  I  saying  by  putting  it 
away  where  the  kids  could  make  some  use  of  it 
when  they  grow  up.  Explaining  my  plan  to  her 
and  she  agreeing  that  it  was  all  right  and  asking 
how  we  would  invest  the  money,  showing  how 
her  mind  runs,  as  if  there  is  enough  yet  to  invest 
except  to  put  it  away,  but  saying  nothing  to  her 
about  it  except  that  we'd  wait  and  see,  as  it  does 
no  good  to  make  my  wife  think  that  I  have  a 
poor  opinion  of  her  financial  ability.  Talking 
with  Mrs.  Walker  in  the  front  yard  this  evening 
and  asking  her  if  she  and  her  husband  are  getting 
along  all  right  now,  and  she  saying  nothing,  but 
talking  about  her  dog,  which  may  not  show  that 
things  at  their  house  are  not  all  right,  but 
I  too  tactful  to  pursue  the  matter  and  not 
interested  in  other  people's  private  affairs. 

Aug.  4.. — Riding  down  on  the  car  this  morning 
with  Al  Jackson  and  he  telling  me  that  he  has 
closed  his  deal  and  is  now  fixed  for  life  and  has 
bought  a  car  and  intends  to  start  pretty  soon 
for  a  trip  through  the  West.  He  was  certainly 
lucky  to  have  got  in  on  that  deal,  and  luck  is  the 
word,  as  when  he  went  into  it  any  level-headed 
business  man  would  have  stayed  out,  as  I  told 
him  when  he  came  to  me  about  it.  As  I  see  it 
now,  he  didn't  tell  me  all  that  he  knew  about  the 
deal,  but  merely  mentioned  it  to  me  so  as  to  square 


August  179 

himself  for  a  little  favor  or  two  that  I  had  done 
for  him.  Asking  if  he  intended  to  take  the  whole 
family,  and  he  said  that  he  did  and  would  stay 
all  winter.  This  relieving  my  mind  some,  as  I 
intended  to  get  a  husband  for  Beatrice  as  soon 
as  I  got  around  to  it,  but  if  she  gets  out  West 
where  no  one  knows  her  she  will  probably  land 
a  man  on  the  strength  of  her  money.  Saying 
nothing  to  Al  about  this,  as  he  is  probably 
sensitive  about  that  subject,  and  I  don't  care  to 
say  anything  that  might  mar  the  pleasure  of  his 
trip,  if  he  gets  any  pleasure  out  of  it. 

Aug.  5. — The  garage  man  calling  me  up  to-day 
and  saying  my  car  is  ready  and  asking  about  the 
young  fellow  who  promised  to  settle  the  bill,  so 
I  trying  to  find  Beecher  and  getting  no  trace  of 
him  by  telephone  till  about  noon,  when  he  came 
to  see  me,  saying  he  was  broke  and  couldn't  pay 
the  bill  without  raising  money  on  his  flivver. 
I  said  that  if  he  could  get  his  flivver  fixed  he 
could  get  my  car  fixed,  and  that  he  had  made 
terms  with  the  garage  man  and  would  have  to 
fight  it  out  with  him.  Telephoning  for  the 
garage  man,  who  came  down  and  said  the  bill 
was  $47  and  Beecher  would  pay  it  or  go  to  jail, 
so  the  young  fellow  pulled  out  a  $50  bill  and  asked 
for  change,  showing  what  a  four-flusher  some  of 
these  young  upstarts  can  be.  Out  to  get  my 
car,  and  the  garage  man  told  me  Beecher  is  a 
bootlegger  making  $20,000  a  year,  so  I  sorry  I 


i8o  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

was  so  hard  on  him,  as  it  might  come  in  handy 
to  be  in  right  with  a  bootlegger.  The  car  runs 
like  a  new  watch,  only  a  little  louder,  and  I 
would  not  trade  it  for  a  good  many  new  ones  I 
see  this  year,  owned  mostly  by  people  that  think 
paint  makes  a  car,  and  know  nothing  about  the 
inside  of  the  thing. 

Aug.  6. — Home  this  evening  to  take  Conrad 
for  a  ride  in  a  little  wagon  that  I  got  for  him 
and  Louise,  and  which  they  enjoy  more  than  the 
bus,  showing  that  people  who  say  they  can't  have 
a  car,  but  stretch  a  point  for  the  benefit  of  their 
kids,  are  not  around  their  kids  long  enough  to 
find  out  what  a  kid  really  likes  in  the  way  of  a 
wheeled  vehicle.  Conrad  is  doing  pretty  well 
now  as  a  talker,  but  it  is  hard  yet  to  tell  whether 
he  will  talk  English  or  Chinese,  although  Louise 
can  understand  every  word  he  says.  While  I 
was  pulling  him  in  the  wagon  he  cried,  and  I 
found  out  that  he  was  a  good  sport  and  would 
like  to  try  to  pull  me  in  the  wagon,  which,  being 
a  strong  wagon,  would  stand  the  weight,  so  I 
sitting  in  the  wagon  to  humor  him  and  letting 
him  try  to  pull  it  while  I  pushed  it  along  with  my 
foot,  and  an  old  lady  coming  along  and  bawling  me 
out  for  a  heartless  brute,  to  make  a  child  like 
that  pull  a  grown  man.  I  saying  nothing,  but 
putting  Conrad  back  in  the  wagon  and  bringing 
him  home,  as  the  woman  was  probably  cracked  and 
a  man  should  use  some  judgment  in  such  cases. 


August  181 

Aug.  7. — Some  talk  at  lunch  about  fishing 
and  this  reminding  me  that  I'll  get  no  fishing  this 
year  on  account  of  having  to  do  my  share  toward 
staying  home  with  the  kids,  as  it  would  be  too 
much  trouble  to  take  them  along  on  a  fishing 
trip  this  year,  but  might  be  all  right  next  year 
when  they  are  a  little  older.  Talking  to  Polly 
about  it  this  evening,  merely  saying  it  was  the 
first  time  in  several  years  I  had  not  had  a  vacation, 
and  not  making  any  complaint,  as  a  man  should 
use  tact  in  such  cases  and  not  give  the  impression 
that  his  wife  and  children  are  holding  his  nose 
to  the  grindstone  to  the  danger  of  his  health. 
She  saying  she  had  a  plan  in  mind,  but  I  saying 
nothing,  as  I  am  resigned  to  my  fate  and  will 
stay  at  home  and  let  men  go  fishing  who  have 
not  taken  on  new  family  responsibilities  late 
in  life,  but  have  settled  back  to  the  selfish  en- 
joyment of  every  minute  of  their  time.  Getting 
out  my  fishing  tackle  and  going  over  it,  as  a  man 
should  keep  his  tackle  in  condition,  even  if  he 
feels  that  he  ought  to  stay  at  home  on  account 
of  doing  something  for  his  wife's  relatives,  as 
a  responsible  business  man  should  do. 

Aug.  8. — Working  on  the  car  this  morning  and 
figuring  that  a  man  who  takes  care  of  his  own 
car  spends  enough  time  on  it  to  make  him  a 
millionaire  if  he  used  the  time  thinking  up  ways 
to  make  money,  and  figuring  that  a  good  many 
cars  are  sold  to  men  who  want  some  excuse  for 


182  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

having  a  piece  of  machinery  to  tinker  with.  All 
to  church  and  Ellen  and  Fred  at  our  house  for 
dinner,  and  after  dinner  all  for  a  spin  in  the  bus 
and  having  a  good  time  except  that  Conrad 
couldn't  get  along  with  Pep  in  the  front  of  the 
car  and  we  had  a  dispute  as  to  which  should  ride 
in  the  front  and  which  should  ride  in  the  back 
which  reminded  me  that  I  was  going  to  train  Pep 
to  ride  on  the  running  board,  so  putting  him  out 
there  and  driving  slowly.  Everything  went  all 
right  till  we  passed  a  cat  on  the  sidewalk,  when 
he  made  a  jump  for  it  and  rolled  over  two  or 
three  times,  giving  the  cat  time  to  climb  a  tree. 
I  will  not  have  my  dog  abused  like  that,  so  mak- 
ing Conrad  ride  in  the  back  with  Ellen  and  Louise 
and  Fred,  and  letting  Pep  in  the  front  and  pay- 
ing no  attention  to  what  they  said  about  a  dog's 
life,  if  that  is  their  idea  of  humor. 

Aug.  9. — Getting  the  surprise  of  my  life  this 
evening  when  I  got  home  to  dinner,  as  Polly 
showed  me  a  letter  from  Bob  Pence  and  his  wife 
inviting  Polly  and  the  kids  to  come  down  to 
Oakcastle  next  Sunday  and  stay  for  two  weeks. 
They  say  they  are  eager  to  see  Polly  and  to  have 
the  kids  visit  around  among  their  relatives  down 
there,  and  I  suppose  that  it  is  best  for  the  kids 
that  they  keep  in  touch  with  their  old  home. 
This  lets  me  in  for  a  fishing  trip  and  I  will  make 
all  plans  right  away.  Planning  that  I  will  take 
Polly  and  the  kids  and  Pep  down  in  the  machine 


August  183 

next  Sunday  and  leave  all  there,  and  come  home 
and  then  start  out  Monday  for  some  fishing. 
Thinking  it  over  and  deciding  that  I  will  not  go 
to  a  wild  lake,  but  will  go  where  there  is  a  com- 
fortable hotel  and  I  can  take  things  easy  when  it 
is  too  hot  to  fish.  This  suits  me  all  right,  as  it 
will  do  me  no  harm  to  say  at  the  office  that  I  have 
sent  my  family  to  one  place  for  a  vacation  and 
am  going  to  another  myself,  showing  that  we 
have  various  places  to  go  and  do  not  favor 
tagging  after  each  other  to  spoil  a  fishing  trip. 
Pep  will  be  in  good  hands  and  no  cause  for  worry. 

Aug.  10. — Speaking  to  the  chief  to-day  about 
my  vacation  and  he  saying  all  right,  but  failing  to 
say  anything  about  how  hard  it  will  be  to  get 
along  at  the  office  for  two  weeks  without  me. 
Home  in  the  evening  to  help  Polly  get  ready  for 
her  visit.  Going  over  my  tackle  and  finding  that 
I  will  have  to  buy  a  few  little  things,  including 
a  pair  of  scales,  as  the  ones  I  have  are  not  right, 
making  a  two-pound  fish  weigh  about  half  a 
pound.  Now  that  the  tackle  is  in  shape,  all 
ready  for  a  vacation,  except  a  place  to  go. 

Aug.  II. — Speaking  to-day  to  that  $3<>a-week 
clerk  at  my  place  who  had  such  bull  luck  fishing 
and  he  saying  he  did  same  at  Lake  Hammond, 
so  deciding  to  go  there,  for  if  a  clerk  can  catch 
fish  in  a  little  lake  like  that,  so  can  I.  Writing 
to  the  proprietor  of  the  Pickerel  Inn  at  Lake 
Hammond  for  a  room,  and  saying  that  anything 


184  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

would  do,  as  I  expect  to  be  on  the  lake  fishing 
most  of  the  time  and  will  have  little  time  for  sleep, 
as  a  man  can  sleep  at  home.  As  soon  as  I  hear 
from  the  hotel,  all  arrangements  will  be  complete 
and  Polly  and  the  children  will  have  a  fine 
vacation,  as  I  bought  the  things  I  needed  for  my 
tackle  to-day,  including  some  new  lures,  war- 
ranted to  bring  the  members  of  the  finny  tribe 
to  time,  and  there  will  be  nothing  to  hinder  my 
pleasure,  as  I  am  leaving  the  car  and  Pep  down  at 
Oakcastle  with  Polly,  so  she  and  the  children 
will  have  what  they  are  used  to  at  home.  Glad 
that  I  have  fixed  matters  up,  as  Polly  needs  the 
vacation  and  will  be  a  new  woman  when  she  gets 
back.  Urging  her  to  take  Etta  with  her,  but 
she  saying  she  does  not  need  help,  as  the  girl 
would  only  be  in  the  way,  which  is  probably 
right,  saving  money.  Minnie  Lowder  still  giving 
me  concern  and  I  giving  her  a  little  friendly 
advice  about  her  work  while  I  am  away.  Quinn 
of  the  repair  department  coming  in  just  as  she 
is  leaving,  and  I  could  see  that  he  was  im- 
pressed by  her  chorus-girl  type  of  beauty. 
Suddenly  the  whole  solution  came  to  me  in  a 
flash.  I  would  get  rid  of  Minnie  and  get  even 
with  Quinn  in  one  stroke  of  fine  genius.  Maybe 
he  would  end  up  by  marrying  her.  So  I  told  him 
that  since  he  was  always  complaining  of  being 
shorthanded,  here  was  his  chance  to  get  help  and 
I  would  have  her  transferred.  He  asked  what 


August  185 

was  the  matter  with  her,  and  I  said  if  being 
promoted  once  or  twice  already  since  she  was 
here  was  a  sign  of  feeble-mindedness,  his  depart- 
ment could  stand  a  few  such  imbeciles.  He 
finally  agreeing  to  take  her  on  trial,  I  merely 
telling  Minnie  that  Quinn's  department  was 
shorthanded,  she  never  suspecting  the  truth. 
So  now  I  am  through  with  the  whole  Lowder 
business  forever  and  can  take  pleasure  in  my 
fishing  trip. 

Aug.  12. — Fred  having  to  go  to  some  kind  of 
sales  conference  this  evening,  so  Ellen  at  our 
house  for  dinner  and  I  seeing  that  she  and 
Louise  are  now  great  friends,  which  is  as  it  should 
be,  for  we  did  the  right  thing  by  Ellen  and  she 
has  no  business  nursing  a  grudge  because  we  took 
two  children  to  bring  up  while  she  was  away  on 
her  honeymoon.  Ellen  telling  Polly  and  me  that 
she  and  Fred  are  having  trouble  living  on  Fred's 
salary,  and  I  guessed  from  what  she  said  that 
they  are  in  debt,  Ellen  finally  intimating  that  I 
might  put  up  a  piece  of  money  to  help  them  out, 
as  now  they  have  realized  that  they  had  to  watch 
every  cent,  and  they  know  enough  not  to  get 
into  a  tight  place  again.  I  not  taking  the  hint, 
but  saying  that  there  is  nothing  like  a  little 
hardship  in  early  married  life  to  test  out  people's 
devotion  to  each  other  and  to  their  home  life, 
also  getting  off  a  few  more  good  ones  of  the  same 
kind,  as  a  man  who  reads  a  good  deal  and 


i86  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

observes  more  can  easily  do,  and  letting  her  know 
that  they  will  never  get  anywhere  except  by  their 
own  efforts.  Polly  saying,  after  Ellen  left,  that 
I  ought  to  be  less  firm  in  such  matters,  but  I 
was  not  impressed  by  her  advice  and  regarded 
the  matter  as  closed. 

Aug.  Jj. — Deciding  to-day  that  I  ought  to  do 
something  to  help  Polly  with  the  children  so  they 
will  have  a  good  time,  so  looking  around  and 
buying  a  kite  for  Conrad,  as,  while  it  is  not  kite 
season,  he  has  never  had  one  and  will  enjoy  it. 
Also  buying  some  string  and  home  in  the  evening, 
carrying  the  thing  on  the  car,  as  I  am  not  ashamed 
to  do,  as  it  will  do  a  man  no  harm  to  have  people 
say  that  I  am  always  carrying  something  home 
to  my  children,  even  a  kite,  which  is  hard  to 
carry  on  a  rush-hour  street  car.  There  was  some 
wind,  so  I  fixed  it  up,  and,  Conrad  being  too 
small  to  fly  it,  I  flew  it  for  him  and  let  him  watch 
and  showed  him  how  it  is  done.  Also  showing 
Louise,  and  all  going  well  till  I  tried  to  show  her 
how  to  start  it  and  was  looking  back  while  run- 
ning, thus  falling  into  Polly's  geranium  bed, 
letting  loose  of  the  kite,  as  a  man  would  when 
falling,  and  it  fell  and  I  had  to  chase  it  about 
three  blocks,  but  recovered  it  all  right;  so  now 
all  is  ready  for  the  vacation,  Polly  having  only  a 
little  more  sewing  to  do,  women  being  particular 
about  how  they  dress  on  a  vacation,  even  though 
going  to  a  hick  town. 


August  187 

Aug.  14. — Pay  day,  but  that  not  bothering  me, 
as  I  said  good-by  to  all  at  the  office  and  took  my 
pay  home,  with  the  two  weeks  in  advance  coming 
to  me  for  vacation  purposes,  and  giving  half  of  it 
to  Polly,  telling  her  that  it  was  a  little  something 
for  her  to  have  a  good  time  on.  Getting  a  letter 
from  the  Pickerel  Inn  and  finding  that  the 
vacation  will  cost  me  very  little,  so  doing  the 
right  thing  by  Ellen  and  giving  $50  in  cash  ta 
her,  as  a  man  could  not  enjoy  his  vacation 
thinking  that  his  daughter  is  at  home  worrying 
over  some  little  bills.  Conrad  got  hold  of  his 
kite  to-day  and  tookit  outdoors,  where  he  and  Pep 
and  Caesar  tried  to  fly  it,  I  guess,  as  all  had  a 
hand  in  tearing  it  up,  which  is  all  right,  as 
Conrad  is  too  small  to  monkey  with  a  kite. 
Spending  most  of  the  afternoon  tuning  the  bus 
up  for  the  trip  to  Oakcastle,  63  miles,  to-morrow 
morning,  and  in  the  evening  smoking  my  pipe 
on  the  porch  and  telling  fish  stories  to  Ellen  and 
Fred,  who  came  up  for  a  visit,  as  they  enjoy  my 
company,  and  I  supposed  they  are  blue  at  the 
prospect  of  me  being  away  from  them  for  a  couple 
of  weeks,  but  will  get  along  some  way. 

Aug.  75. — An  eventful  day.  All  got  up  early, 
and  Polly,  the  children,  three  suitcases,  the 
wagon  I  bought  for  the  children,  and  two  baskets, 
all  away  to  Oakcastle,  getting  started  at  eight 
o'clock  and  getting  there  before  noon,  as  I  am 
best  at  shooting  a  car  along  on  a  long  trip.  Hav- 


188  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

ing  dinner  at  Bob's  and  they  showed  some  real 
affection  for  the  children,  but  I  did  not  warm  up 
to  Bob's  people  much,  being  merely  decent  and 
polite,  as  I  don't  care  for  them  to  get  the  idea  I 
am  licking  their  boots  for  the  $40  a  month,  which 
makes  no  difference  to  me  one  way  or  the  other. 
Coming  back  on  the  five  o'clock  train.  Sorry  to 
leave  Polly  and  the  kids  and  Pep,  but  glad  to  get 
out  of  the  town,  as  you  could  not  hire  me  to 
hang  around  a  hick  town  like  that  for  any  amount 
of  money.  Back  to  the  house  in  time  to  go  over 
my  fishing  tackle  and  make  things  shipshape  for 
a  long  stay  away  from  the  house,  and  Ellen 
saying  she  would  look  in  now  and  then  to  see 
that  all  is  well.  Quite  a  relief  to  know  that  I 
am  doing  what  I  can  to  give  Polly  and  the  kids 
a  good  vacation,  which  they  surely  deserve,  even 
though  I  am  practically  forced  to  take  a  fishing 
trip,  though  I  had  not  planned  to  do  it. 

Aug.  16. — Well,  here  I  am  at  Pickerel  Inn, 
and  I  can't  say  much  for  the  place,  as  there  are 
too  many  people  around  here  who  clutter  up  the 
porch  all  day  playing  bridge;  but  that  may  work 
out  all  right,  for  if  they  are  playing  bridge  they 
are  not  out  on  the  lake  worrying  the  life  out  of 
some  poor  fish.  Taking  a  swim  as  soon  as  I 
reached  here  this  afternoon,  and  in  the  evening 
rowing  around  the  lake  a  bit  to  look  things  over. 
Taking  a  rod  along  and  casting  a  few  times,  but 
not  wasting  much  time  that  way,  as  a  man  had 


August  189 

better  use  his  fishing  sense  on  strange  water  and 
find  out  first  where  the  fish  are  likely  to  be.  The 
lake  is  about  nine  miles  long  and  narrow,  not 
over  a  mile  and  a  half  across  at  the  widest  place, 
so  there  is  probably  plenty  of  room  for  everybody. 
Talking  with  a  native  this  evening  and  he  telling 
me  that  no  one  has  had  much  luck  on  the 
lake  this  year,  a  few  bass  being  caught,  and,  of 
course,  bluegills  and  such  panfish,  that  no  real 
sportsmen  would  look  at.  This  pleasing  to  me, 
as  it  shows  that  a  lot  of  dubs  have  been  fishing 
here  and  left  the  good  fishing  for  men  who  have 
been  at  it  long  enough  to  know  how  to  think  like 
a  fish. 

Aug.  if. — Up  this  morning  before  three  o'clock 
and  out  on  the  lake  before  sunup,  as  that  is  the 
time  to  go  after  the  fish,  long  before  the  easy- 
chair  anglers,  as  they  are  called  in  books,  get  up. 
Rowing  over  to  a  little  cove  that  I  picked  out 
last  evening  as  being  likely  to  harbor  some  fish, 
and  going  alone,  as,  while  it  is  hard  to  manage  a 
boat  and  cast  at  the  same  time,  I'd  rather  do 
that  than  have  some  boatman  along  to  worry  me. 
Circling  the  cove  and  casting  into  the  lily  pads 
and  then  working  down  the  shore  and  studying 
the  lake  pretty  carefully.  Getting  a  good  strike, 
but  he  missed  the  plug  and  only  churned  the 
water.  I  could  tell  from  the  rumpus  he  raised 
that  he  must  have  been  a  four-pound  bass,  and 
where  there  is  one  there  must  be  many,  if  a  man 


igo  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

knows  how  to  look  for  them  in  the  right  place. 
Breakfast  time  before  I  knew  it,  so  rowing  back 
to  the  hotel.  Dozing  awhile  after  breakfast,  and 
in  the  afternoon  for  a  row  about  the  lake  and  a 
swim.  Casting  again  this  evening  and  study- 
ing the  lake,  which  may  have  something  in 
it.  Catching  nothing  to-day,  but  that's  all  right, 
as  I  am  here  to  get  the  air  and  outdoor  exercise. 
Aug.  18. — Up  at  daylight  again  this  morning 
and  trying  other  parts  of  the  lake.  Seeing  a  man 
haul  in  a  two^pound  bass  almost  in  the  center  of 
the  lake,  where  any  one  would  know  a  bass  had 
no  business  being  in  the  morning,  but  should  be 
near  the  shore,  looking  for  minnows  feeding  in 
the  shallow  water.  Catching  nothing,  but  mak- 
ing a  study  of  the  lake  and  figuring  out  several 
promising  places  where  I  should  get  some  good 
fishing  this  week.  Some  people  are  lucky  at 
fishing,  but  I  pay  no  attention  to  luck,  as  real 
luck  is  nothing  but  knowing  what  you  are  doing 
and  using  your  head  in  casting  instead  of  your 
wrist  only.  A  wind  coming  up  and  making  the 
lake  too  rough  for  fishing,  so  I  loafed  on  the 
porch  awhile  and  finally  got  into  a  bridge  game? 
as  when  a  man  is  invited  he  does  not  like  to  turn 
people  down  when  he  is  likely  to  be  thrown  with 
them  for  two  weeks.  A  nap  and  swim  in  the 
afternoon,  and  as  it  was  too  dark  in  the  evening 
to  fish,  finally  consenting  to  dance  a  little,  as 
there  was  no  getting  out  of  it,  and  managing  to 


August  191 

show  some  of  the  women  a  good  time,  as  that  is 
what  they  came  here  for,  not  to  fish,  as  I  did. 
Yet  there  is  no  reason  why  I  should  not  make 
myself  agreeable,  for  these  women  do  not  have 
much  pleasure  in  their  lives. 

Aug.  IQ. — Up  at  daylight,  as  usual,  and  out 
on  the  lake  when  most  of  these  loafers  here  were 
just  settled  for  the  night.  Casting  in  the  cove 
again,  and  just  as  I  was  getting  ready  to  leave  it 
I  got  a  fish  which  must  have  been  at  least  three 
feet  long.  He  acted  like  a  pickerel,  coming  in 
sort  of  sluggish,  but  when  I  got  him  about  half- 
way to  the  boat  and  was  thinking  what  a  sensa- 
tion he  would  create  at  the  hotel,  he  gave  a  flop 
which  almost  pulled  me  into  the  water,  and 
jerked  loose.  Spending  most  of  the  rest  of  the 
day  going  over  my  tackle,  and  writing  to  the 
bait  company  which  made  the  lure  I  had  him  on, 
and  telling  them  about  the  defects  in  the  bait. 
Out  again  in  the  evening  and  seeing  an  elderly 
woman  with  as  fine  a  string  of  bluegills  as  ever 
I  saw.  She  said  she  caught  them  with  crickets. 
But  that's  no  way  to  fish,  except  for  a  woman. 
Intending  to  go  to  bed  early,  but  there's  a  dance 
here  every  night,  and  a  man  can't  sleep  with  a 
lot  of  jazz  buzzing  in  my  ears,  so  dancing  to  kill 
time  till  the  acrobatic  orchestra  left  and  a  man 
could  enjoy  himself  in  peace.  That  music  probably 
scares  the  fish  half  to  death  and,  of  course,  a 
thing  like  that  will  counteract  anybody's  skill. 


192  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Aug.  20. — Out  on  the  lake  at  sunup  this 
morning  and  fishing  for  four  hours.  Seeing  a 
big  pickerel  loafing  in  the  shade  of  some  water- 
lily  leaves,  showing  that  I  am  fishing  in  the  right 
place,  but  when  I  drifted  away  from  him  and 
cast  in  his  direction,  he  wakened  up  and  made 
for  the  center  of  the  lake.  Taking  a  little  more 
care  this  morning,  but  not  even  getting  a  strike, 
which  leads  me  to  believe  that  this  lake  has  been 
fished  out,  probably  by  fellows  like  that  clerk 
who  sent  me  up  there,  fish  hogs  who  come  along 
with  a  streak  of  luck  and  land  all  the  fish  and 
then  go  home  and  blow  about  it  to  their  su- 
periors. A  letter  from  Polly  to-day  saying  that 
she  and  the  children  are  having  a  good  time  and 
that  she  is  enjoying  renewing  girlhood  friend- 
ships. I  suppose  that  they  appreciate  my  getting 
away  from  home  so  they  can  have  a  vacation 
without  having  to  worry  about  me.  Polly  saying 
nothing  about  Pep,  which  disturbs  me,  as  a  dog 
might  get  into  all  kinds  of  trouble  at  Oakcastle, 
such  as  chasing  sheep.  Loafing  around  the  hotel 
to-day  and  helping  a  boy  repair  a  reel,  and  going 
to  the  dance  this  evening,  as  a  man  cannot  very 
well  get  out  of  it. 

Aug.  21. — No  real  fish  in  the  lake  again  this 
morning,  so  I  listened  to  a  man  named  Miller, 
who  said  he  knew  all  about  catching  bluegills, 
which  is  not  much,  and  invited  me  to  go  along. 
I  went,  as  I  could  not  very  well  get  out  of  it,  and 


August  193 

caught  nine  pretty  good  ones  to  his  sixteen,  I 
getting  fewer  because  I  am  not  used  to  that  kind 
of  lazy  fishing,  but  favor  the  game  fish.  Anyhow, 
we  had  enough  fish  to  make  a  meal  at  our  table 
at  the  hotel,  and  the  morning  was  not  wasted. 
This  evening  a  boy  caught  a  three-pound  bass 
off  the  hotel  pier,  showing  that  accidents  like 
that  will  happen.  I  went  out  after  dinner  and 
fished  for  an  hour,  but  caught  nothing,  as  it  was 
probably  too  dark.  Worrying  about  Pep  this 
evening,  so  writing  to  Polly  to  ask  about  her  and 
the  children  and  if  Pep  is  still  with  them.  Not 
caring  to  go  to  the  dance,  but  I  had  to,  as  a  man 
cannot  read  or  sleep  with  all  that  music  pounding 
in  his  ears  and  everybody  dancing  and  having 
a  good  time.  Some  widow  trying  to  vamp  me, 
but  not  having  much  luck  at  it,  as  I  am  up  here 
to  fish  and  not  to  get  caught  by  good-looking 
ladies. 

Aug.  22. — Fishing  again  to-day,  even  though 
it  is  Sunday,  as,  while  I  believe  in  observing  the 
Sabbath,  I  also  believe  in  making  the  most  of 
the  few  short  days  a  man  gets  away  from  home 
every  year,  so  out  at  daylight  and  trying  a 
couple  of  new  places  that  I  picked  out  yesterday. 
Meeting  a  man  with  three  nice  bass.  He  said 
he  came  up  here  for  the  week-end  and  had  to 
make  the  most  of  his  time,  so  went  out  early 
and  got  his  fish.  I  saying  nothing,  but  it  seemed 
to  me  that  he  did  not  do  the  right  thing  in  coming 


194  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

up  here  just  for  the  week-end  and  grabbing  off 
fish  that  rightfully  belong  to  people  who  have 
really  earned  them  by  fishing  for  a  whole  week. 
Getting  a  strike,  but  I  think  he  was  not  on  the 
hook.  Buying  some  new  bait  and  out  again  after 
breakfast,  but  having  no  luck,  as  the  lake  was 
so  full  of  excursionists  that  a  man  could  hardly 
pull  a  boat  without  bumping  into  them.  A  high 
wind  in  the  afternoon,  so  joining  a  penny-ante 
game  in  the  lobby  of  the  hotel,  some  gray-haired 
woman  who  should  have  been  sewing  for  grand- 
children taking  all  the  money,  playing  poker  like 
a  professional  gambler,  though  she  looked  like 
a  saint,  that  probably  being  her  poker  mask. 

Aug.  23. — Not  waking  up  this  morning  till  the 
breakfast  bell  rang,  which  is  strange,  as  I  usually 
wake  up  well  before  daylight,  when  the  fishing  is 
good.  That  widow,  Mrs.  Eastman  by  name, 
practically  compelling  me  to  go  with  her  to  pick 
water  lilies,  which  I  did,  and  she  trying  to  find 
out  all  about  me,  but  getting  nothing  out  of  me, 
as  a  man  should  be  careful  in  such  cases  and  keep 
his  affairs  to  himself.  Then  she  told  me  the 
story  of  her  life,  and  it  is  too  bad  what  a  hard 
time  some  people  have  in  the  world,  especially 
people  who  crave  affection  and  are  bereft  of  their 
dear  ones  and  left  alone  in  the  world.  She  is  a 
beautiful  woman,  too,  once  you  know  her,  with 
large  brown  eyes  and  olive  complexion,  and  cheeks 
that  glow  with  perfect  health.  She  asked  me  to 


August  195 

teach  her  to  cast,  so  taking  her  out  this  evening 
and  showing  her  the  rudiments  of  the  art,  and 
as  luck  would  have  it,  she  hooked  a  three-pound 
bass  right  away  and  then  screamed,  as  a  woman 
would,  and  I  had  to  bring  it  in  for  her;  and  it 
surely  was  a  beauty,  giving  me  as  much  sport  as 
if  I  had  caught  it  myself.  Fishing  around  there 
some  time,  but  catching  no  more,  so  going  home 
with  our  fish. 

Aug.  24. — Out  early  this  morning,  as  after 
landing  that  big  one  last  night  I  took  more 
interest  in  the  sport  and  had  a  lot  of  fun  fishing 
around  the  same  place,  but  caught  none,  as  I 
suppose  fish  have  a  sort  of  way  of  learning  where 
one  has  been  caught  and  they  avoid  that  spot 
for  a  few  days.  Mrs.  Eastman  and  I  walking  to 
the  village  near  here,  where  she  had  to  buy  some 
thread,  and  she  telling  me  how  much  she  enjoyed 
learning  to  fish,  and  a  lot  of  bunk  like  that  which 
did  not  impress  me,  as  I  took  no  pleasure  in 
having  her  remind  me  that  she  had  a  little  luck 
and  knew  practically  nothing  about  fishing  as 
a  real  art.  Feeling  sorry  for  her,  though,  as  she 
seems  to  be  so  helpless.  She  lives  alone  in  the 
city,  she  says,  and  has  only  a  few  friends.  She 
has  said  nothing  about  her  husband,  but  she 
acts  as  if  he  had  never  understood  her  and  had 
died  almost  without  warning.  Playing  in  the 
sand  with  some  children  this  afternoon.  A  letter 
from  Polly  saying  that  Pep  roves  around  all 


196  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

over  Oakcastle  and  seems  to  enjoy  his  freedom. 
Trying  to  fish  in  the  evening,  but  finally  going 
to  the  dance,  which  is  exercise,  at  least. 

Aug.  25. — This  finds  me  at  home,  as  I  am 
disgusted  with  the  lake  and  the  hotel  and  the 
whole  place  and  feel  that  I  have  wasted  most  of 
my  vacation.  Overhearing  some  women  refer- 
ring to  me  on  the  porch  this  morning  as  "that 
grumpy  old  bird  that  Mrs.  Eastman  is  flirting 
with,v  and  deciding  that  if  that  is  the  kind  of 
people  I  am  thrown  with  I  had  better  get  out. 
Not  that  I  care  what  they  say  about  me,  as  they 
cannot  be  much  or  they  would  not  be  at  a  bum 
place  like  Pickerel  Inn.  So  I  packed  up  my  tackle 
and  told  the  proprietor  of  the  place  that  I  was 
going  somewhere  to  get  some  fish,  thus  letting 
him  know  what  I  think  of  his  lake,  where  about 
the  only  way  you  can  catch  a  fish  is  to  shoot  it 
with  a  rifle.  Not  seeing  Mrs.  Eastman  when  I 
left,  as  she  is  nothing  to  me.  Getting  home 
here  at  ten  this  'evening  and  finding  everything 
all  right.  Down  to  Ellen's,  as  I  was  homesick 
to  see  her,  but  no  one  at  home,  as  I  guess  they 
are  out  having  a  good  time  on  that  piece  of 
change  I  gave  to  Ellen  before  I  left.  Neverthe- 
less glad  I  am  away  from  that  bunch  of  loose 
talkers  on  the  porch  at  the  so-called  Pickerel  Inn. 

Aug.  26. — Well,  it  was  quite  a  surprise  for 
Polly  and  the  children  when  I  blew  into  Oak- 
castle  without  letting  them  know  I  was  coming. 


August  197 

They  were  glad  to  see  me,  of  course,  but  I  had  to 
look  the  town  over  for  Pep,  and  finally  found  him 
with  a  cat  treed  down  near  the  bridge.  He  didn't 
like  to  leave  the  cat,  but  I  made  him  come  on  to 
Bob's  house,  and  I  looked  him  over  and  found 
that  if  he  has  been  in  any  scraps  he  shows  no  signs 
of  it.  Polly  and  the  children  well  and  looking 
better  for  their  vacation.  Working  on  the 
machine  all  afternoon  and  most  of  the  evening, 
as  they  have  been  running  it  fast  and  loose  and 
jolting  it  to  pieces.  They  asking  about  my  fish, 
and  I  used  a  little  judgment,  as  a  man  should  in 
such  cases.  Besides,  no  one  at  that  mud  puddle 
of  a  lake  knew  me,  so  there  is  no  reason  why  I 
should  not  have  a  little  glory  out  of  my  vacation, 
even  if  the  lake  was  fished  out  when  I  got  there. 
Saying  that  I  would  have  brought  some  of  my 
fish  down,  but  the  weather  was  too  hot  and  fish 
packed  in  ice  are  too  hard  to  carry.  Smoking  my 
pipe  on  the  porch  in  the  evening  and  enjoying 
the  quiet  of  the  town. 

Aug.  27. — Washing  the  car  this  morning,  as 
we  must  get  ready  to  go  home  and  get  ready  for 
another  year  of  life  in  the  crowded  city.  Think- 
ing that  I  would  like  to  settle  down  here  in  this 
peaceful,  shady  town  and  spend  the  rest  of  my 
days  here.  After  all,  it  is  the  people  in  small 
towns  who  really  enjoy  themselves.  Saying  some- 
thing about  it  to  Bob,  and  he  saying  that  there 
is  not  a  man  in  this  town  who  doesn't  regret  that 


198  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

he  didn't  go  to  the  city  as  a  boy  and  become 
a  millionaire  with  a  country  home  and  five  cars. 
He's  like  a  lot  of  men,  never  satisfied  with  what 
he  is  or  what  he  has  done,  and  killing  a  lot  of 
time  wishing  that  he  had  made  another  kind  of 
start  when  he  was  young  and  had  the  pep,  instead 
of  staying  here  in  a  hick  town.  Bob's  wife  giving 
a  party  in  our  honor,  a  quiet  affair,  so  soon  after 
Mary's  passing  on,  which  I  forgot  and  suggested 
poker,  shocking  the  women.  Sitting  around  till  all 
got  sleepy;  then  the  guests  went  home.  Polly  and 
I  deciding  to  go  home  to-morrow,  as  I  would  like 
to  get  settled  before  I  have  to  go  back  to  the 
office,  where  things  are  probably  in  pretty  bad 
shape  by  this  time,  I  being  away. 

Aug.  28. — Making  an  early  start  this  morning, 
and  somewhat  sad,  as  Polly  and  both  children 
had  tears  in  their  eyes  when  we  left,  which  made 
a  good  impression  on  the  family  down  there. 
Getting  a  puncture  about  half  way  home,  and 
this  seemed  to  start  all  the  tires  on  a  sympathetic 
strike,  as  I  had  three  more  punctures  and  had 
to  fix  every  one  of  them,  there  being  only  one  spare 
tire  on  the  car,  that  being  all  a  man  needs  in 
town.  We  reached  home  about  three  o'clock 
tired,  dusty,  hungry,  and  wondering  if  the  visit 
was  worth  the  trip,  but  feeling  better  after  Polly 
got  the  house  opened  up  and  we  all  ate  something. 
Pep  glad  to  get  back,  as  he  ran  around  and  barked 
when  I  let  him  out  of  the  machine  in  the  garage. 


August  199 

Conrad  picked  up  quite  a  few  words  at  Oak- 
castle  and  now  talks  like  a  child  twice  his  age. 
He  is  remarkable  in  many  respects,  and  so  is 
Louise.  Both  have  developed  rapidly  in  the 
refining  influence  of  our  house  and  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  I  am  glad  we  took  them  to  bring  up 
right.  Ellen  and  Fred  up  in  the  evening  to  hear 
about  our  vacation,  and  I  telling  them  several 
fish  stories,  knowing  their  weakness  in  this  respect. 
Aug.  29. — All  to  church  this  morning  and 
every  one  telling  us  how  well  we  look  after  our 
outing,  making  a  man  feel  that  he  did  the  right 
thing  in  arranging  for  his  wife  and  her  sister's 
children  to  go  back  to  their  old  home  and  visit 
with  their  relatives  for  awhile.  I  telling  a  few 
fish  stories  to  those  who  asked  how  I  got  along, 
which  Harry  Vickers  did,  but  I  staying  in  the 
background,  as  it  does  a  man  no  harm  to  have 
people  say  that  he  is  not  disposed  to  blow  about 
what  a  fine  vacation  he  arranged  for  his  family, 
but  takes  it  as  a  matter  of  course,  as  if  used  to 
it,  which  I  am.  Fred  and  Ellen  asking  for  the 
car  in  the  afternoon,  so  I  letting  them  have  it 
and  spending  most  of  the  afternoon  in  the  yard 
playing  with  the  kids,  showing  them  how  to 
make  a  whistle,  and  fixing  the  bed  of  their  wagon, 
which  they  pulled  apart  while  playing  with  the 
young  roughneck  cousins  of  theirs  at  Oakcastle. 
Seeing  Mrs.  Walker  in  her  yard,  I  started  over 
to  talk  with  her,  but  she  went  into  the  house, 


200  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

probably  feeling  that  Walker  ought  to  provide  a 
vacation  for  her  and  she  not  caring  to  hear 
about  our  fine  vacation. 

Aug.  30. — Back  to  the  treadmill  this  morning 
and  finding  things  in  pretty  good  shape,  as  I 
have  my  force  well  trained  and  they  know  how 
to  run  the  details  of  my  department  while  I  am 
gone.  All  asking  about  my  vacation,  and  telling 
the  story  so  often  that  there  was  little  work  done. 
One  of  the  best  parts  of  a  vacation  is  talking 
about  it  afterward,  and  a  man  should  enjoy  the 
post  mortem  to  the  fullest  extent.  That  clerk 
who  gave  me  that  rotten  tip  about  the  so-called 
Pickerel  Inn  asking  if  I  caught  anything,  and 
to  get  even  with  him  I  told  a  few  fish  stories 
which  left  him  breathless.  While  things  have 
gone  smoothly  in  my  department,  it  seems  that 
same  is  not  true  of  Quinn's.  He,  hearing  that 
I  was  back,  came  hurrying  in  to  complain  about 
Minnie  Lowder,  claiming  that  she  was  not  only 
no  good  herself,  but  that  she  had  reduced  the 
efficiency  of  his  force  thirty-five  per  cent.  I 
handed  him  a  hot  one,  saying  that  it  was  news 
to  me  that  he  had  that  much  altogether,  which 
floored  him  and  he  could  only  reply  weakly  that 
he  could  not  put  up  with  the  Lowder  girl  another 
day,  and  if  that  was  the  kind  of  people  who  rise 
rapidly  in  my  department,  it  looked  bad  for  the 
others.  So  I  told  him  to  send  her  back  to  me, 
as  the  girl  was  not  lazy  when  directed  with  in- 


August  201 

telligence,  and  what  else  could  a  man  do  ?  Home 
at  night,  thinking  that  my  plan  for  marrying  her 
to  Quinn  was  not  working  well  and  I  must  think 
up  one  that  is  now  better. 

Aug.  j/. — Ellen  and*  Fred  at  our  house  this 
evening  for  dinner  and  Ellen  saying  something 
to  Louise  about  her  manners  at  table,  which 
are  practically  perfect,  and  I  saying  something 
to  Ellen  about  who  was  boss  in  this  house,  and 
one  word  led  to  another  until  you  would  have 
thought  I  was  a  Bolshevik  of  some  kind,  whereas 
I  only  meant  to  imply  that  Polly  and  I  are  bring- 
ing Louise  and  Conrad  up  right  and  do  not  enjoy 
having  Louise's  manners  criticized  at  our  table, 
especially  when  about  the  worst  she  did  was  to 
feed  Pep  at  the  table,  which  is  all  right,  as  I 
told  them,  the  dog  being  hungry  and  Louise 
having  a  tender  heart.  Ellen  and  Fred  going 
back  home  right  after  dinner,  and  after  Louise 
went  to  bed  Polly  made  a  few  pointed  remarks 
about  using  a  little  tact  once  in  a  while.  I  say- 
ing nothing,  as  naturally  she  would  be  sensitive 
about  her  sister's  children  and  would  side  with 
Ellen  against  me,  I  being  only  her  husband. 
But  she  is  nervous,  and  a  man  should  use  some 
judgment  now  and  then,  and  so  I  went  down 
to  Ellen's  to  square  things  up,  but  they  had 
gone  to  the  movies,  I  guess. 


September 

Sept.  I. — Walker  was  starting  out  in  his  car 
this  morning  just  as  I  was  starting  to  business, 
but  he  did  not  ask  me  to  ride  with  him,  on  the 
contrary,  he  gave  me  one  glance,  then  acted  as 
if  he  were  running  a  car  for  the  first  time  and 
two  fire  engines  were  coming  his  way.  Mrs. 
Walker  acted  the  same  way  when  I  saw  her  in 
the  yard  the  other  day  and  started  over  to  say 
something  to  her  about  how  she  and  her  husband 
are  getting  along.  I  don't  know  what  could 
make  them  act  like  that  toward  me  unless  it  is 
the  fact  that  whenever  I  am  around  either  one 
of  them  they  get  to  thinking  about  how  different 
things  might  have  been  if  they  had  started  life 
as  I  did  and  married  some  one  about  the  same 
age  and  got  along  all  right  instead  of  quarreling 
and  separating  every  month  or  two.  I  am  sorry 
that  I  make  them  feel  that  way,  but  if  a  man's 
example  hurts  other  people's  consciences  it  is 
not  my  fault,  but  theirs.  This  would  be  a  heck 
of  a  world  if  a  man  acted  so  that  no  one  would 
envy  him  because  he  did  the  right  thing.  Telling 
Polly  about  it  this  evening  and  she  said  that  I 

202 


September  203 

might  have  offended  them,  showing  how  her 
mind  runs. 

Sept.  2. — To  my  surprise,  the  check  for  $40 
from  Bob  Pence  coming  to-day.  I  thought  maybe 
he  might  not  send  it  at  all  or  might  keep  out 
half  of  it  as  payment  for  board  for  Polly  and  the 
kids  while  they  were  down  at  Oakcastle.  Putting 
the  money  away  and  writing  to  Bob,  telling  him 
that  the  check  arrived  all  right  and  would  be 
kept  for  the  children  as  I  do  not  need  the  money 
and  am  able  to  take  care  of  Louise  and  Conrad 
and  a  few  more,  as,  for  instance,  if  my  only 
brother  out  West  should  die  and  leave  his  six 
children  on  my  hands.  But  I  also  told  Bob  that 
the  children  would  some  day  be  grateful  to 
Polly's  people  for  doing  the  right  and  only  square 
thing  by  them,  as  people  with  any  sense  of 
decency  would  do.  Telling  Polly  about  it  in  the 
evening  and  she  saying  that  I  am  getting  to  be 
a  terrible  pessimist  here  lately,  and  too  surly. 
Thinking  this  over  and  deciding  that  she  is  more 
than  half  right,  as  a  man  should  make  some 
allowance  for  the  world's  opinions,  even  when 
they  are  wrong,  and  look  at  the  bright  side  of 
things,  so  resolving  to  try  to  see  the  best  in 
everything  for  awhile  and  see  how  it  goes. 

Sept.  5. — Starting  out  this  morning  determined 
to  see  nothing  but  good  in  everything  that 
happens,  but  the  first  thing  of  importance  that 
happened  was  when  the  street-car  conductor 


204  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

bawled  out  a  woman  for  giving  a  $5  bill  to  him, 
and  told  her  he  had  a  notion  to  put  her  off  and 
make  her  walk.  I  tried  to  make  allowance  for 
the  chance  that  the  fellow  might  have  had  a  few 
words  with  his  wife  when  he  left  home,  or  some- 
thing like  that,  but  had  no  luck,  so  paid  the 
woman's  fare  and  gave  her  my  name  and  address, 
as  seven  cents  is  seven  cents.  Minnie  Lowder 
coming  to  me  to  talk  about  wages,  and,  since  I 
had  praised  her  highly  to  Mr.  Quinn  and  asked 
to  have  her  back,  was  I  now  prepared  to  do  the 
right  thing  by  the  sister  of  one  who  had  practically 
given  his  life  for  the  company?  I  trying  to  make 
allowances  for  the  inexperienced  girl  and  finally 
giving  her  the  raise  she  asked  for,  together  with 
some  straight  advice  about  doing  her  work  and 
letting  the  clerks  do  theirs. 

Sept.  4. — Pay  day  today,  so  I  figured  a  little 
bit  on  where  I  stand  in  money  matters  and 
found  that  I  will  have  to  save  a  little  more. 
But  that  does  not  worry  me,  as  the  money  goes, 
anyhow,  and  as  long  as  we  are  comfortable 
and  healthy  I  have  nothing  to  worry  about. 
Etta  taking  care  of  the  children  this  evening  and 
I  inviting  Polly,  Ellen,  and  Fred  to  Hemper's 
roadhouse  for  a  country  chicken  dinner  in  honor 
of  Polly's  birthday,  which  is  to-morrow,  as  Ellen 
said  when  she  called  me  up  this  morning  to  ask 
if  I  knew  whether  the  dinners  at  Hemper's  are 
as  good  as  ever,  we  not  having  been  there  this 


September  205 

year.  Taking  flowers  home  to  Polly,  and  a  pair 
of  silk  stockings,  which  with  the  dinner  made  a 
fine  surprise  for  her  and  she  was  greatly  pleased. 
The  dinner  was  up  to  Hemper's  standard,  and 
all  would  have  been  well  if  some  lizard  hadn't 
sprung  a  pocket  flask  at  his  table  and  made  the 
rest  of  us  crave  a  chance  to  do  something  unopti- 
mistic,  so  to  speak,  as  you  might  say.  Home 
late,  but  feeling  better  after  our  spin  in  the  cool 
air  and  thinking  that  we  shall  have  to  go  out 
there  again  before  winter  sets  in. 

Sept.  5. — To  church  this  morning,  and  who 
should  be  there  but  the  Walkers.  We  thought 
they  never  went  to  church,  as  we  never  saw  them 
leaving  home  Sunday  morning.  After  church  I 
stopped  them  and  shook  hands,  which  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  do,  and  welcomed  them  to  our 
church  and  said  that  I  hoped  they  would  come 
every  Sunday  henceforth,  which  they  promised 
to  do.  On  the  way  home  Polly  telling  me  that 
I  had  better  do  less  talking  about  the  Walkers, 
as  the  real  reason  they  acted  so  cool  toward  me 
was  that  it  had  got  back  to  Janet  that  I  was 
talking  around  the  neighborhood  about  her 
domestic  troubles.  I  was  tempted  to  say  that 
it  was  their  fault  that  they  had  domestic  affairs 
to  create  talk,  but  saying  nothing,  as  here  lately 
Polly  flares  up  when  I  exercise  my  gift  for  hot 
comebacks  on  her,  and  it's  not  good  for  her  to 
get  into  the  habit  of  opposing  every  one.  All 


206  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

for  a  ride  in  the  afternoon,  and  Louise,  Conrad, 
and  I  having  a  great  romp  with  Pep  in  the  eve- 
ning, breaking  the  china-closet  door  again,  but 
laughing  about  it,  as  a  man  has  only  one  life  to 
live,  and  with  a  family  his  money  all  goes  for 
something,  anyhow. 

Sept.  6. — Labor  day  to-day  and  no  work  at 
our  place,  but  a  lot  of  work  at  home,  as  I  got 
up  early  and  spent  the  day  till  two  o'clock 
working  on  the  car,  cleaning  the  clutch,  tighten- 
ing the  steering  gear,  grinding  the  valves,  and 
then  washing  the  old  bus  and  polishing  her  till 
she  looked  like  new.  Giving  Conrad  a  rag  and 
letting  him  work  on  the  wheels  and  praising  him 
for  his  industry,  as  there  is  nothing  like  giving  a 
boy  a  word  of  praise  now  and  then  when  he 
shows  a  desire  to  do  something  useful,  even 
though  he  is  too  young  to  understand.  For  a 
ride  in  the  afternoon,  and  in  the  evening  down 
to  Ellen's  house  to  sit  on  the  porch  awhile  and 
smoke  my  pipe.  Pep  now  knows  how  to  find 
their  house,  and  when  the  children  razz  him  till 
he  can  no  longer  stand  it  he  goes  down  to  visit 
Ellen,  and  for  some  reason  she  has  taken  a  lik- 
ing to  him  and  feeds  him,  so  he  now  spends  a 
good  deal  of  his  time  there.  Ellen  and  Fred 
are  getting  along  all  right.  They  spend  most 
of  their  evenings  playing  cards  with  some 
other  young  married  couples,  which  is  all  right 
as  long  as  they  get  along  fairly  well  that  way, 


September  207 

and  a  girl  should  learn  to  be  independent  of  her 
parents. 

Sept.  7. — Riding  down  on  the  car  this  morning 
with  Beatrice  Jackson,  and  she  said  that  this  is 
her  last  week  at  the  library,  as  they  are  all  going 
to  California  in  their  new  car  pretty  soon  and 
spend  the  winter  there,  while  the  rest  of  us  stay 
at  home  and  shovel  coal  and  snow.  Glad  to 
see  the  Jacksons  getting  somewhere  in  the  world, 
even  though  they  owe  it  all  to  luck.  Giving 
Beatrice  a  little  advice  about  men  marrying  her 
for  her  money.  Seeing  that  it  pleased  her  to 
think  of  a  man  being  interested  in  her  for  any 
reason,  so  filling  her  up  with  stuff  like  that, 
telling  her  the  world  is  full  of  sleek  adventurers 
looking  for  charming  heiresses,  and  she  will  have 
to  use  all  her  brains  developed  in  the  library  in 
guarding  her  heart  against  a  tendency  to  surrender 
to  one  of  the  many  handsome  men  who  will 
swarm  abdut  her.  By  the  time  we  reached  town 
she  was  in  the  clouds.  A  little  of  that  bunk 
hurts  neither  her  nor  me.  Telling  Polly  about 
it  in  the  evening  and  she  saying  I  went  too 
strong,  as  the  Jacksons  made  only  $8,000  on 
that  deal  and  will  soon  be  back  home,  flat  broke. 

Sept.  8. — A  steady  rain  falling  this  afternoon 
and  evening.  Harry  Vickers  calling  me  up  and 
asking  if  I  would  sit  in  a  25-cent-limit  game, 
which  I  decided  to  do,  as  he  is  a  good  fellow 
with  nothing  wrong  about  him  except  a  twisted 


2o8  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

sense  of  humor.  Five  others  from  the  neighbor- 
hood in  on  the  game  and  I  played  close,  as  a  man 
loses  nothing  by  being  known  as  a  good  poker 
player,  keeping  a  straight  face  and  playing  a 
pair  of  jacks  or  four  aces  with  the  same  face. 
Things  going  much  as  usual  till  I  stayed  on  the 
makings  of  a  straight  flush  and  made  it.  Twenty- 
five  was  bet  and  she  was  raised  twenty-five 
before  she  got  to  me,  and,  of  course,  I  upped  it 
and  it  went  around.  I  studied  my  hand  every 
time  and  when  there  were  only  two  of  us  left 
I  started  to  back  down,  but  raised  instead,  and 
when  I  raked  the  pot  in  I  was  a  little  better  than 
$14  to  the  good.  I'll  admit  that  I  had  the  hand 
and  it  was  better  than  four  aces,  but  I  played  it 
right,  and  after  I  was  seen  I  explained  every 
step,  showing  that  I  am  willing  to  share  my 
poker  knowledge  with  people  who  mean  well 
and  do  their  best,  but  simply  lack  the  power  to 
think. 

Sept.  9. — Getting  news  to-day  that  the  chief 
at  our  place  is  quitting  and  this  causing  a  buzz 
of  excitement,  for  it  seems  that  some  department 
head  will  go  up  to  manager  at  $7,500  a  year. 
All  hating  to  see  the  chief  go,  as  he  is  going  into 
business  for  himself,  where  he  may  fail  and  lose 
all  his  money,  but  glad  that  a  change  will  be 
made,  as  every  one  knows  that  I  could  hold  the 
job  all  right,  and  if  I  get  in — which  is  practically 
certain — they  all  know  there  will  be  some  dis- 


September  209 

cipline  around  the  place,  but  all  will  get  a  fair 
deal.  The  chief  leaves  at  the  end  of  this  month 
and  I  suppose  the  directors  will  say  something 
to  me  within  a  few  days.  I  can  show  them  a 
few  things  about  how  the  old  plant  ought  to  run, 
even  if  I  have  kept  pretty  well  to  myself  and  not 
butted  into  the  affairs  of  other  departments. 
Running  the  whole  works  is  like  running  a 
department,  only  a  little  bigger  job.  I  am  next 
to  the  oldest  department  head  in  length  of 
service,  hence  the  job  is  as  good  as  mine  right 
now.  Saying  nothing  to  anybody  at  home  about 
it,  as  I  do  not  care  to  spoil  the  thrill  they  will 
get  when  they  read  about  it. 

Sept.  10. — Walker  hauling  me  down  in  his 
car  this  morning  and  acting  pleasant  enough 
for  a  man  who  wouldn't  act  more  than  civil 
toward  me  last  week.  He  may  have  got  some 
hint  from  our  place  that  I  am  soon  to  be  made 
manager,  and  decided  that  he  cannot  afford  to 
risk  offending  me  again  after  acting  all  right 
at  church,  where  I  had  him  cornered  so  that  he 
could  hardly  do  less  than  shake  hands  with  me. 
The  chief  coming  into  my  place  this  morning  and 
I  asking  him  about  how  things  are  going,  and 
said  that  I  hoped  he  would  make  a  big  success 
of  his  new  venture.  But  he  gave  me  no  hint  as 
to  who  his  successor  will  be,  saying  that  his 
sudden  quitting  must  have  left  the  company  up 
in  the  air,  for  as  yet  it  had  done  little  but  try 


210  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

to  persuade  him  to  remain,  offering  him  an 
increase  in  his  salary  of  33  per  cent.  I  said 
nothing,  but  if  the  company  is  that  crazy  to 
hold  him  I  believe  it  needs  a  general  shake-up 
at  the  top,  as  there  are  plenty  of  men,  self 
included,  who  will  take  the  job  for  what  the 
chief  is  now  getting  and  the  plant  will  never 
notice  the  change,  except,  if  anything,  it  will 
get  along  better  than  ever. 

Sept.  ii. — Pay  day  to-day,  and  I  thinking  that 
as  likely  as  not  I  will  be  getting  a  lot  more  money 
this  time  next  month,  which  is  no  more  than  a  man 
who  has  been  with  the  company  as  long  as  I  have 
deserves.  Hearing  to-day  that  the  president  of 
the  company  is  coming  through  here  on  a  general 
inspection  tour  of  all  plants,  and  deciding  that 
when  he  shows  up  I  will  get  a  word  with  him  and 
tell  him  a  few  things  about  how  the  output  here 
can  be  increased.  Home  at  noon  and  working  on 
the  car  awhile,  and  then  deciding  that  I  was 
wasting  money,  so  taking  it  down  to  the  garage 
and  having  them  fix  it  up  for  Sunday.  It  does 
a  man  in  my  position  and  with  my  prospects  no 
harm  to  have  people  say  that  I  am  too  busy  to 
give  any  time  to  my  car,  but  run  it  to  the  garage, 
even  to  have  the  grease  cups  filled.  Taking  the 
children  for  a  walk  in  the  park,  where  they 
enjoyed  the  bright  fall  weather  and  ran  and 
played  till  they  were  ready  to  drop  and  I  had 
to  carry  Conrad  home.  This  is  the  life  for  me  and 


Septembe  211 

the  kids,  as  I  know  they  don't  enjoy  the  machine 
after  about  fifteen  minutes  and  would  rather 
travel  on  their  own  power. 

Sept.  12. — All  to  church  this  morning,  as  every 
family  should  do,  as  it  starts  them  off  right  for 
the  week  and  does  me  no  harm  to  have  people 
saying  that  I  am  a  little  strong  on  churchgoing. 
In  the  afternoon  out  for  a  drive,  and  passing 
Carder  and  Alice  in  a  flivver  which  looked  as 
if  somebody  had  abandoned  it  after  a  wreck.  Ill 
bet  they  have  less  than  $10  between  them  and 
poverty,  but  they  look  happy  in  their  flivver, 
and  if  they  are  happy  I  guess  it  is  all  right.  Say- 
ing something  to  Polly  about  it  and  she  saying 
that  it  was  no  worse  than  the  Jacksons  starting 
out  in  a  car  to  spend  the  winter  in  California  on 
$8,000  and  having  $2,000  mortgage  on  their 
house.  So  I  saying  that  if  she  felt  that  way 
about  it  maybe  we  had  better  cash  in  and  take 
a  trip  around  the  world  with  the  children,  which 
she  said  would  be  exactly  the  thing  for  her,  so 
I  said  no  more,  as  a  man  who  expects  to  get 
somewhere  in  the  world  had  better  be  careful 
about  putting  wild  schemes  into  his  wife's  head. 
In  the  evening  Ellen  and  Fred  in  for  a  bite,  and 
I  am  happy  to  see  that  Ellen  and  Louise  are 
getting  to  be  great  friends. 

Sept.  Jj. — Calling  Minnie  Lowder  into  my 
place  this  morning  and  asking  how  she  is  getting 
along.  She  seems  to  think  she  is  doing  very 


212  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

well,  though  reports  reaching  me  are  otherwise. 
Asking  her  if  she  expects  to  be  married  soon,  and 
she  said  that  she  had  made  up  her  mind  never  to 
get  married,  but  will  devote  her  life  to  a  business 
career  and  to  strengthening  the  position  of 
women  in  the  business  world.  Where  she  gets 
such  Bolshevik  ideas  is  more  than  I  know,  and 
they  do  her  no  credit  and  hold  out  no  hope  that 
she  is.  Perhaps  when  I  am  made  manager  I 
can  put  through  the  right  place  for  her  disposal 
by  exercising  my  authority.  Home  in  the  evening 
to  find  that  Conrad  ate  some  hard  grease  out  of  a 
can  in  the  garage,  which  the  doctor  said  would 
do  him  no  harm,  but  I  sitting  by  his  crib  nearly 
all  night,  as  doctors  do  not  know  everything. 

Sept.  14. — Busy  at  my  desk  to-day  when  the 
chief  came  into  my  office  with  a  stranger  and 
look  around,  and  before  I  could  say  anything 
they  were  gone  again.  Learning  later  that  the 
man  with  the  chief  was  the  big  gun  from  the 
East  and  that  he  was  here  only  a  couple  of 
hours  and  spent  nearly  all  the  time  looking  over 
the  plant.  Asking  the  chief  if  the  president  had 
any  important  news  to  break,  and  the  chief  said 
no,  except  that  he  raised  the  devil  about  this 
plant  and  said  that  the  company  might  as  well 
close  it  up.  I  suppose  the  chief  is  passing  that 
word  around  the  plant  to  make  every  one  buck 
up  and  have  things  in  good  shape  for  the  new 
manager.  Unable  to  figure  out  what  is  going  on, 


September  213 

and  saying  nothing  about  it  at  home.  Our  plant 
is  not  making  the  company  a  million  dollars  a 
month,  for  I  know  about  what  it  is  making,  but 
at  the  same  time  it  is  making  money,  and  if  the 
president  really  said  that  it  is  a  poor  plant,  it 
looks  to  me  as  if  what  the  company  needs  is  a 
new  president,  as  a  lot  of  these  men  get  crusty 
and  lose  their  hold  long  before  they  let  go. 
Smoking  my  pipe  all  evening. 

Sept.  15. — Albert  Jackson  into  my  office  this 
evening  and  saying  that  he  now  has  his  car,  for 
which  he  paid  $1,900,  and  has  learned  to  run  it, 
and  that  he  and  his  family  start  Monday  for  a 
tour  of  the  West.  He  is  not  leaving  his  job  for 
good,  but  has  permission  to  be  away  for  six  months, 
showing  that  he  still  has  some  sense  left  in  him. 
But  in  such  cases  a  man  should  not  say  what 
he  thinks,  so  I  told  him  that  I  thought  he 
was  doing  the  right  thing,  as  he  would  get 
a  new  slant  on  the  world  and  would  probably 
be  a  much  better  man,  both  physically, 
and  mentally,  after  the  trip.  This  seemed  to 
please  him,  as  he  trusts  my  judgment  and 
probably  thinks  that  the  last  thing  I  would  do 
is  to  hand  him  a  line  of  bunk  just  to  make  him 
feel  right.  I  saying  to  him  that  he  is  lucky  to 
put  $10,000  into  a  trip  like  that,  and  he  looking 
guilty  and  leaving  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that 
what  Polly  said  about  him  having  less  than 
36,ooo  above  the  mortgage  on  his  home  is  right. 


214  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

As  for  me,  I'll  get  more  satisfaction  out  of  staying 
at  home  and  doing  the  right  thing  by  my  family 
than  he  will  get  out  of  worrying  a  car  all  over 
the  West. 

Sept.  16. — Well,  the  worst  that  could  happen 
has  happened,  and  I  never  suspected  it,  for 
Walker  always  looked  to  me  as  if  he  was  doing 
all  he  could  to  please  his  wife  and  make  her 
happy,  and  no  one  around  here  ever  thought  he 
was  anything  but  a  hard-working  man  who  had 
put  off  marriage  till  well  along  toward  fifty,  and 
then  married  a  girl  with  whom  he  probably 
could  not  have  had  much  in  common.  Polly 
broke  the  news  when  I  reached  home,  saying 
that  Mrs.  Walker  had  spent  the  morning  at  our 
house,  telling  Polly  all  about  Walker  and  some 
widow  beingseen together  at  lunch  in  a  downtown 
cafe  almost  every  day  recently  by  a  waiter  who 
knew  Walker  from  coming  out  here  to  see  the 
Walker  cook.  The  waiter  told  the  cook,  and 
Mrs.  Walker  and  the  cook  had  a  few  words,  the 
cook  being  new  and  used  to  having  her  own  way, 
and  the  cook  spilled  the  beans  to  Mrs.  Walker. 
This  evening  Mrs.  Walker  and  her  husband  had 
words  which  we  could  hear  at  our  house,  but  not 
understand,  though  we  tried,  and  Polly  has  been 
standing  at  the  window  all  evening,  expecting 
to  see  Mrs.  Walker  leave  with  a  couple  of  trunks, 
but  everything  at  Walker's  house  is  quiet. 

Sept.  //. — No  sign  of  Walker  this  morning, 


September  215 

but  when  I  got  home  Polly  reported  that  he  left 
soon  after  I  left  this  morning,  and  Mrs.  Walker 
has  not  been  seen  about  the  house  all  day.  The 
neighborhood  buzzing  with  excitement  and  all 
wondering  if  they  will  be  called  upon  to  testify 
at  the  divorce  trial.  Two  or  three  women  sitting 
on  our  porch  this  evening,  and  I  could  not  help 
overhearing  what  they  had  to  say,  and  all  agreeing 
that  they  thought  there  was  something  like  that 
going  on  all  the  time,  but  had  said  nothing  about 
it  for  fear  of  arousing  Mrs.  Walker's  suspicions. 
You  never  can  tell  about  a  man,  of  course,  but 
I  will  say  for  Walker  that  I  never  thought  it  of 
him,  as  he  looks  to  be  too  slow  and  deliberate  to 
make  a  hit  with  any  gay  widow  who  might  be 
running  around  stealing  old  husbands  from  young 
brides.  But  even  at  that  a  man  ought  to  have 
some  sense  and  not  lose  his  head  every  time  a 
woman  gives  him  a  second  look,  especially  an 
elderly  man.  He  has  no  business  treating  Janet 
that  way,  and  I,  for  one,  am  in  favor  of  getting 
up  a  committee  here  in  the  neighborhood  and 
presenting  him  with  a  resolution  saying  that  he 
is  in  bad  and  had  better  move,  but  Polly  opposing 
the  idea,  perhaps  she  still  being  jealous. 

Sept.  18. — As  I  suspected,  that  Walker  busi- 
ness was  all  wrong.  Mrs.  Walker  came  over  to 
our  house  this  afternoon  and  told  Polly  that  the 
cook  said  that  there  had  been  a  case  like  that  in 
the  last  home  she  worked  in,  and  when  she  lost 


216  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

her  temper  she  told  Mrs.  Walker  about  Walker 
and  the  widow  just  to  start  something,  as  she 
thought  she  was  going  to  be  fired,  anyhow.  When 
Walker  came  home  and  Janet  managed  to  tell 
him  why  she  was  crying  and  to  say  that  she  was 
going  home  right  away,  Walker  got  hold  of  the 
cook  and  made  her  admit  that  it  was  all  a  lie. 
They  still  have  the  cook,  as  Walker  probably 
figures  she's  worth  more  as  a  liar  than  the  risk 
of  another  who  may  have  to  be  proved  a  liar. 
Janet  was  so  ashamed  that  she  could  not  come 
over  yesterday.  She  asked  Polly  to  keep  the 
incident  a  dark  secret,  but  Polly  has  been  busy 
all  evening  telling  the  women  in  the  neighborhood 
that  it  was  a  false  alarm.  Glad  that  my  opinion 
of  Walker  proved  to  be  right,  and  tempted  to 
say  a  few  things  to  Janet  about  thinking  the 
worst  of  her  husband  on  the  bare  word  of  a  cook 
who  probably  had  too  much  vanilla  extract, 
but  saying  nothing. 

Sept.  IQ. — Walker  and  his  wife  at  church  this 
morning  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  and  I 
wondered  how  all  the  women  who  were  talking 
so  much  about  them  a  few  days  ago  could  look 
them  in  the  eyes  and  say  how  glad  they  were  to 
see  them  and  a  lot  of  such  bunk.  As  for  me,  I 
made  it  plain  to  Walker,  without  saying  so  in  so 
many  words,  that  I  never  believed  the  story  from 
the  first.  I  would  have  said  something  to  Janet, 
but  Polly  asked  me  to  look  for  Conrad,  who  was 


September  217 

toddling  down  the  aisle,  not  ten  feet  from  us, 
as  anyone  could  see.  Fall  is  now  coming,  so  we 
all  took  a  long  drive  in  the  country,  Ellen  wheel- 
ing the  car  along  in  fine  style,  and  I  glad  to  let 
her  drive,  as  I  never  get  enough  of  the  country 
in  the  fall,  when  the  air  is  sharp  and  the  foliage 
is  turning  and  the  trees  blaze  like  fire  in  the 
afternoon  sun.  Stopping  every  now  and  then 
at  a  stream  to  give  the  children  and  Pep  a 
chance  to  stretch  their  legs  and  learn  something 
about  the  water,  which  every  child  should  know 
well  enough  to  love  instead  of  fear.  Thinking 
that  if  I  am  made  manager  I  will  get  a  place  in 
the  country,  where  the  children  can  grow  up 
strong  and  a  man  can  do  a  little  fishing  once  in 
awhile. 

Sept.  20. — Putting  in  a  hard  day  at  the  office, 
spending  some  time  trying  to  get  a  line  on  who 
is  going  to  be  next  manager  and  thinking  it 
strange  that  no  one  has  dropped  a  hint  to  me, 
one  way  or  the  other,  as  all  know  that  I  am  in 
line  for  the  job  and  other  department  heads  are 
dropping  in  to  ask  me  what  I  know  about  it. 
Some  acting  as  if  they  expected  to  get  the  job 
themselves.  I  saying  little,  but  sawing  wood  and 
waiting  for  my  chance.  I'll  certainly  make  a 
housecleaning  when  I  get  the  power  around  the 
works.  There  are  too  many  shellbacks  there  who 
think  that  just  because  they  have  hung  around 
the  place  for  twenty  years  or  more  the  plant 


2i8  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

cannot  get  along  without  them.  What  we  need 
is  new  blood  and  lots  of  pep  under  the  direction 
of  a  man  who  has  been  there  for  a  good  many 
years  and  still  retains  his  youth  and  optimism, 
and  I  will  show  them  what  I  mean  by  pep  when 
I  get  the  job.  Janet  Walker  sitting  on  our  porch 
when  I  got  home  this  evening,  and  telling  Polly 
that  some  one  has  stolen  Caesar,  so  I  taking  Pep 
and  hunting  for  him,  finding  him  prowling 
around  down  toward  the  park,  where  he  had 
probably  gone  to  get  the  exercise  that  he  needs. 
Sept.  21. — Home  this  evening  to  find  Polly  and 
Ellen  talking  with  looks  on  their  faces  as  if  Pep 
had  been  run  over  by  an  automobile.  They 
brightened  up  when  I  asked  what  was  the  matter, 
but  would  not  let  me  in  on  the  serious  business, 
but  continued  to  act  as  if  they  had  given  Pep 
away  or  something.  Ellen  stayed  for  dinner,  and 
when  I  asked  where  Fred  was  she  said  he  was 
detained  downtown.  She  and  Louise  played  with 
Louise's  dolls  after  dinner  as  if  they  were  the 
same  age,  and  both  hopped  on  little  Conrad  when 
he  seized  Kathleen,  Louise's  favorite  doll,  by  the 
hair  and  dragged  her  across  the  floor,  with  Pep 
trying  to  pull  Kathleen's  shoes  off.  After  the 
children  went  to  bed  Ellen  jumped  at  every  sound 
she  heard  in  the  street,  and  went  to  the  door  a 
dozen  times  to  look  down  toward  her  bungalow. 
When  it  grew  late  I  asked  Ellen  if  Fred  was 
coming  for  her,  and  she  saying  she  didn't  know, 


September  219 

so  I  went  to  bed,  leaving  her  and  Polly  sitting  up, 
and  each  talking  a  streak,  but  I  could  make 
none  of  it  out,  so  writing  in  my  diary  and  going 
to  bed. 

Sept.  22. — Asking  Polly  this  morning  at  the 
breakfast  table  how  long  Ellen  stayed  last  night 
and  she  saying  that  Ellen  stayed  all  night,  as 
she  did  not  hear  from  Fred  and  was  afraid 
to  stay  alone  in  the  bungalow,  also  reminding 
me  that  this  is  Ellen's  birthday;  so  I  went  out 
this  noon  to  buy  a  present  for  her,  and  remember- 
ing that  she  said  something  one  day  about  a 
frame  for  a  picture  she  and  Fred  had  taken  the 
day  they  were  married,  so  buying  a  gilt  one  for 
her  at  a  jewelry  store.  When  I  reached  home 
in  the  evening  she  was  there,  so  I  handed  it  over 
to  her,  but  instead  of  even  as  much  as  thanking 
me  she  began  to  cry  and  ran  upstairs.  Asking 
Polly  what  was  the  matter,  and  she  saying  that 
I  might  as  well  know  the  truth,  that  Ellen  and 
Fred  are  separated  and  Fred  is  going  downtown 
to  live.  They  had  a  few  words  yesterday  morn- 
ing aboufc  some  coffee,  and  one  thing  led  to 
another  until  Ellen  threatened  to  go  home  and 
stay,  and  he  told  her  to  go  ahead,  and  Ellen 
went.  She  was  upstairs  all  evening,  and  would 
not  come  down,  but  she  did  the  right  'thing  and 
is  lucky  to  have  a  good  home  to  come  back  to 
when  in  trouble  and  a  father  who  will  take 
her  part. 


220  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Sept.  23. — Ellen  still  at  our  house,  where  she 
is  safe  from  that  young  savage  of  a  Fred  Thomas. 
This  evening  she  and  Polly  let  me  in  on  the  whole 
story.  It  seems  that  Ellen  and  Fred  have  had 
words  pretty  often  here  of  late,  and  Ellen  has 
put  up  with  him  for  the  sake  of  all  our  neighbors 
and  friends,  who  might  be  shocked.  He  accused 
her  of  being  indulged  by  her  parents  and  of 
being  brought  up  to  be  waited  on  by  a  dozen 
servants  all  the  time,  and  a  lot  of  other  bunk 
like  that,  which  shows  what  kind  of  people  he 
comes  from  and  that  he  has  no  regard  whatever 
for  Polly  and  me,  never  thinking,  I  guess,  that 
before  he  and  Ellen  were  married  he  often  told 
her  that  her  parents  were  the  finest  people  he 
had  ever  met.  He  has  not  shown  up  at  the 
bungalow  for  three  days  and  Ellen  will  not  go 
near  it,  as  she  says  she  is  afraid  of  the  place. 
Polly  saying  nothing,  but  I  half  believe  that  she 
sides  with  Fred,  and  if  she  does  there  will  be 
another  split  in  the  family.  Telling  Ellen  to  do 
as  she  pleases,  and  if  she  cares  to  get  a  divorce  I 
will  hire  a  lawyer  who  will  show  Thomas  up  so 
that  no  girl  who  knows  his  record  will  speak  to 
him.  Feeling  pretty  low. 

Sept.  24.. — Well,  the  chief  dropped  into  my 
place  to-day  and  said  he  supposed  I  would 
be  glad  to  learn  that  he  will  continue  in  charge 
of  the  works.  This  killing  my  engine,  but  I 
managed  to  ask  him  how  it  came  about,  and  he 


September  221 

said  that  after  going  over  the  field,  the  com- 
pany decided  that  they  could  not  get  along 
without  him  and  made  such  an  attractive  salary 
offer  that  he  could  not  resist,  but  renewed 
his  contract  for  another  year.  I  told  him  that 
was  fine,  but  if  the  company  had  taken  a  look 
around  the  works  it  might  have  found  what  it 
needed  in  the  way  of  an  executive  that  could 
handle  the  job,  as  I  will  not  stand  for  him  casting 
slurs  on  my  ability  to  hold  his  job.  He  had  no 
comeback,  but  gave  that  affected  grin  of  his  and 
went  out.  As  likely  as  not  he  merely  resigned 
to  wring  a  little  more  pay  out  of  the  company  and 
feed  his  vanity.  Home  to  tell  Polly  about  it, 
now  that  it  is  all  over,  but  not  getting  to  it,  as 
she  could  talk  of  nothing  but  Ellen,  who  went 
to  the  bungalow  this  morning  to  take  some 
things  out  of  the  ice  box,  etc.,  and  found  Fred 
getting  his  breakfast,  so  they  have  gone  to  the 
state  park  for  a  week-end  in  the  woods.  I  am 
sorry  that  a  daughter  of  mine  has  so  little  pride, 
but  all  is  settled  and  I'm  glad  that  I  did  not 
interfere  in  a  mere  lovers'  spat. 

Sept.  25. — Pay  day  to-day,  and  while  I  was 
figuring  where  I  stand  in  the  world,  Charley 
Quinn  dropped  into  my  place  and  we  got  to 
talking  about  the  chief  going  to  stay  and  who 
might  have  had  his  job  if  he  had  been  compelled 
to  make  good  his  bluff  to  leave,  and  Charley 
told  me  that  as  a  department  head  for  nine 


222  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

years  he  thought  sure  he  would  get  the  job.  I 
saying  nothing,  as  Charley  is  a  good  fellow  in 
some  ways,  and  we  have  worked  together  for 
about  twenty  years  and  always  got  along  all 
right,  but  if  he  had  been  made  manager  of 
the  works  I'd  have  got  another  job.  We 
agreeing  that  the  chief  is  all  right  in  some 
ways  and  that  we  will  stick  to  our  jobs, 
although  neither  of  us  could  be  blamed  for 
quitting  and  going  somewhere  to  make  better 
use  of  our  ability.  Learning  to-day  that  the 
Jacksons  left  yesterday  without  saying  good-by, 
merely  calling  Polly  up  to  say  that  they  were 
on  their  way.  I  suppose  we'll  begin  to  get  wish- 
you-were-here  cards  from  them  about  Monday, 
or  I'll  get  a  letter  from  Al  saying  he  is  broke  and 
would  like  to  borrow  enough  money  to  get  home. 
Telling  Polly  about  the  chief's  bluff,  and  she 
agreeing  that  the  job  belonged  to  me. 

Sept.  26. — All  to  church  in  the  morning  and 
I  holding  little  Conrad  on  my  lap  and  he  falling 
asleep,  and  I  got  to  thinking  that  I  wish  I  had 
a  son  of  my  own,  the  preacher  saying  something 
about  the  progress  of  the  race  is  made  on  the 
feet  of  the  children,  and  thinking  that  as  yet 
Polly  and  I  have  not  talked  over  the  question  of 
adopting  Louise  and  Conrad  and  having  them 
bear  our  name,  so  they  will  have  the  benefit  of 
the  reputation  which  I  have  built  up  around  it 
in  this  end  of  town,  where  I  am  well  and  favor- 


September  223 

ably  known  among  the  better  class  of  people. 
A  damp  wind  in  the  afternoon  and  Walkers 
asking  us  if  we  cared  to  go  riding  with  them 
in  their  closed  car,  which  we  did,  having  a 
pleasant  time  except  a  couple  of  times  when  I 
gave  Walker  some  friendly  advice  about  his 
driving,  he  driving  as  if  he  had  a  fire  whistle  on 
his  glass  boat  and  everybody  had  to  get  out 
of  the  way.  After  we  returned  home  and  put 
the  children  to  bed,  Polly  gave  me  the  devil  for 
talking  that  way  to  Walker,  and  I  explained  that 
Walker  probably  invited  me  to  go  along  for  that 
purpose,  but  she  not  getting  the  point. 

Sept.  27. — Fred  and  Ellen  up  to  see  us  this 
evening  and  acting  as  if  nothing  had  ever  hap- 
pened, and  I  guess  perhaps  it  didn't,  so  I  used 
a  little  judgment  and  said  nothing  to  Fred  about 
how  ready  I  was  to  back  Ellen  in  court  and  ruin 
his  reputation.  Polly  and  I  talking  it  over  after 
they  left  and  she  saying  that  Ellen  insists  upon 
cooking  everything  as  she  was  taught  to  cook  at 
home,  and,  of  course,  Fred  has  his  ideas  about 
some  dishes  and  is  very  particular  about  his 
coffee,  and  Ellen  has  learned  by  this  time  that 
she  cannot  have  her  own  way  in  everything,  and 
in  the  future  probably  will  get  along  all  right 
with  Fred,  as  he  also  learned  a  lesson  from  the 
quarrel  and  he  vowed  to  Ellen  that  he  will  never 
speak  a  cross  word  to  her  again  as  long  as  he  lives. 
I  guess  all  young  married  couples  have  such 


224  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

troubles,  but  saying  to  Polly  that  she  and  I 
never  went  so  far  as  to  separate,  and  she  saying 
no,  but  she  put  up  with  a  good  deal,  and  I  saying 
that  she  put  up  with  no  more  than  I  did,  and 
one  word  leading  to  another  until  I  said  she 
ought  to  be  grateful  to  me  for  rescuing  her  from 
Oakcastle,  and  she  said  that  it  had  been  one  of 
the  regrets  of  her  life,  so  I  for  a  walk  to  let  her 
cool  off  before  she  says  something  she  will  always 
regret. 

Sept.  28. — Asking  Polly  this  morning  if  she 
still  wished  to  go  back  to  Oakcastle  to  live,  for 
if  she  did  I  would  make  liberal  provision  for  a 
home  for  her  and  the  children  down  there,  and 
she  could  keep  a  maid  and  take  life  about  as  it 
came,  with  no  worries,  and  she  saying  that  she 
suspected  my  liberality,  but  would  think  it  over. 
But  perhaps  I  shouldn't  write  the  above  down, 
as  about  two  o'clock  she  telephoned  that  Conrad, 
fell  against  his  wagon  and  cut  a  long  gash  in  his 
head,  so  I  hurried  out  to  the  house  and  got  there 
just  as  the  doctor  finished  sewing  it  up.  He  was 
a  game  little  devil  and  was  ready  to  play  again 
in  an  hour,  so  Louise  and  I  got  the  car  out  and 
went  downtown,  where  we  got  some  red  and 
yellow  balloons  and  a  stuffed  dog  and  two 
picture  books  for  him.  When  I  started  to  rock 
him  to  sleep  this  evening,  Polly  made  no  objection, 
saying  nothing,  and  after  both  children  were 
asleep,  I  said  something  to  her  about  adopting 


September  225 

them,  and  she  began  to  cry  and  said  she  had 
tried  to  ask  me  about  it  a  hundred  times,  but 
thought  I  might  object,  and  we  had  better  talk 
it  over  with  Ellen,  who  ought  to  know  about  it, 
which  is  true,  and  a  man  of  property  must  con- 
sider such  things. 

Sept.  29. — Things  going  easy  to-day.  Keeping 
my  department  humming,  as  I  can  with  half 
my  mind  and  half  my  time,  as  I  have  discipline 
that  gets  results.  The  chief  coming  in  to-day 
and  asking  who  was  that  pretty  girl  over  there 
and  hadn't  he  seen  her  not  long  ago  in  Quinn's 
department?  I  told  him  that  Quinn  had  used 
her  while  I  was  away,  but  that  I  had  taken  her 
back  at  increased  pay  as  she  was  a  corker  and 
a  member  of  the  famous  Lowder  family.  He 
saying  he  was  glad  to  hear  it,  as  he  took  great 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  his  employees.  I 
believe  he  is  a  little  attracted  to  the  girl  himself, 
perhaps  being  lonely,  being  a  widower  for  five 
years.  Home  in  the  evening  to  a  good  dinner, 
Polly  having  a  ham  omelet,  sweet  potatoes,  and 
spinach.  Little  Conrad's  schedule  calls  for  bed 
before  our  dinner  time,  so  the  three  of  us — 
Polly,  Louise  and  I — have  our  dinner  together, 
and  Louise  tells  in  detail  about  the  dress  worn 
by  every  little  girl  at  her  kindergarten.  Pep 
and  I  for  a  walk  after  dinner. 

Sept.  jo. — Going  to  a  lawyer  to-day  about 
adopting  the  children  and  finding  that  he  can 


226  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

file  the  papers  now,  but  that  we  shall  have  to 
wait  three  months  before  we  can  adopt  the 
children,  which  will  make  about  New  Year's 
presents  of  them,  which  mention  of  New 
Year's  reminds  me  that  we  have  had  no  weather 
to  speak  of  here  lately,  all  days  being  about 
alike,  bright  or  cloudy,  with  a  little  rain  and  no 
very  cold  nights.  This  will  make  the  children's 
new  birthdays  come  about  Christmas  time,  so 
that  we  can  have  a  special  celebration  without 
telling  them  why,  as  we  plan  to  have  them  grow 
up  thinking  that  they  really  are  our  children,  the 
lawyer  saying  that  he  thought  we  could  put  up  a 
little  story  that  would  sound  all  right  to  Louise, 
though  I  doubting  it  a  little,  as  I  can  remember 
that  I  knew  my  name  when  I  was  five  years 
old,  though  the  cases  are  not  exactly  similar. 
Home  to  report  my  visit  to  the  lawyer  to  Polly, 
and  in  the  evening  we  asked  Fred  and  Ellen  to 
come  up  and  talk  it  over,  and  when  we  sprang 
the  proposition  Fred  said  nothing,  as  there  was 
nothing  he  could  say,  and  Ellen  cried  a  little  and 
said  it  was  the  thing  to  do  and  kissed  Polly 
and  me. 


October 

Oct.  I. — Pretty  sharp  weather  these  days,  but 
not  bad,  being  merely  sharp  enough  to  make  a 
man  wish  he  could  get  out  of  the  city  and  spend 
his  days  in  the  open,  where  people  don't  crowd 
a  man,  till  sometimes  I  think  I'd  like  to  buy  a 
little  farm  and  try  to  make  a  go  of  it,  as  hard 
as  it  is  to  make  even  a  living  on  a  farm,  just 
for  the  pleasure  of  getting  away  from  town, 
where  people  crowd  around  each  other  as  thick 
as  flies,  making  everybody,  including  them- 
selves, half  sore  all  the  time.  There  are  so  many 
people  in  the  world  as  it  is  that  there  is  no  reason 
why  they  should  herd  together  in  cities  and  make 
matters  worse.  Fred  and  Ellen  up  to  our  house 
this  evening  and  saying  something  about  poker, 
which  Polly  refuses  to  play,  so  Ellen  calling  up 
Mrs.  Walker,  they  having  played  together  some- 
where, not  long  ago,  and  she  coming  over  and 
we  playing  seven-card  stud,  ten-cent  limit,  the 
game  being  all  right,  except  that  I  won  nearly 
all  the  money  that  was  won,  so  that  I  was 
tempted  to  turn  down  good  hands,  just  to  spare 
the  other  players,  but  did  not,  feeling  that  if 

227 


228  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

they  couldn't  afford  to  lose  it  was  a  good  lesson, 
and  if  they  could  afford  to  lose  I  might  as  well 
win  the  money. 

Oct.  2. — Calling  that  Minnie  Lowder  into  my 
office  today  and  telling  her  the  chief  was  in- 
quiring about  her  and  glad  to  know  that  I  was 
doing,  the  right  thing  by  the  sister  of  Scott 
Lowder,  Minnie  pulling  down  the  curtains  over 
her  eyes  and  saying  that  everybody  had  been 
most  kind  to  her.  I  wondering  where  she  got 
that  "everybody"  stuff,  as  it  seems  to  me  I 
am  the  only  one  who  has  done  anything  for  her, 
but  saying  little  or  nothing  along  this  line.  I 
would  like  to  pass  her  along  to  the  chief  to  use 
in  his  own  office,  but  it  would  do  me  no  good  to 
have  him  find  out  what  a  false  alarm  she  is. 
Home  to  play  with  Louise,  whose  dolls  have  the 
measles,  and  I  am  the  doctor.  Smoking  my 
pipe  and  thinking  all  evening. 

Oct.  3. — To  church  this  morning,  after  spending 
two  hours  working  on  the  bus,  which  is  worse 
than  a  baby,  needing  attention  all  the  time,  so 
that  if  I  had  my  way  about  it  I  would  leave 
the  thing  parked  somewhere  till  a  thief  came 
along  and  stole  it,  giving  me  a  chance  to  get  even 
with  the  insurance  company,  and  the  thief,  too. 
There  is  no  sport  in  having  to  take  care  of  your 
own  car,  and  if  you  hire  some  one  to  take  care 
of  it  the  cost  is  so  much  that  a  man  can't  afford 
it,  so,  as  far  as  I  am  concerned,  a  machine  is  no 


October  229 

good  unless  somebody  asks  you  to  ride  down- 
town or  something  like  that,  where  it  doesn't 
cost  you  a  cent  any  way  you  look  at  it.  A  good 
sermon,  our  preacher  being  better  this  fall  than 
ever,  as  he  knows  everyone  and  says  nothing  that 
makes  anyone  in  the  congregation  feel  badly, 
or  even  ill  at  ease.  In  the  afternoon  taking 
Fred  and  Ellen  with  us  for  a  ride  and  passing  the 
traffic  cop  who  arrested  me  this  summer,  and  he 
giving  me  the  sign  when  he  saw  me  coming, 
causing  people  to  look  to  see  who  I  am,  which 
does  a  man  no  harm,  as  some  of  them  may  have 
known  me  and  wondered  how  I  got  in  strong 
with  the  traffic  cops,  and  strangers  probably 
thought  I  was  the  mayor  or  a  judge. 

Oct.  8. — Minnie  showing  up  to-day  in  a  new 
skirt,  blouse,  and  shoes,  and  showing  that  the 
raise  I  gave  her  is  being  put  to  good  use.  She 
hanging  around  my  desk  till  I  said  something 
about  how  well  she  looked;  then  she  told  me  that 
her  sister  Ethel,  who  now  works  in  a  department 
store,  helped  her  to  pick  out  the  stuff,  accounting 
for  the  general  effect,  which  is  good.  Telling 
Polly  abo.ut  it  in  the  evening,  and  she  saying 
little  or  nothing,  merely  remarking  that  she  had 
been  wearing  a  new  fall  hat  for  nearly  five  weeks 
and  I  had  never  noticed  it.  Etta  staying  at  the 
house  in  the  evening  so  we  could  go  to  the  movies, 
even  though  it  was  raining  a  little,  and  I  saying 
something  about  Polly's  hat,  but  getting  in  a 


230  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

little  bad,  as  it  was  not  the  new  hat  she  had 
been  hiding  from  me,  but  the  hat  she  had  last 
fall,  so  I  saying  no  more,  but  enjoying  the  movie. 

Oct.  5. — Hearing  from  Al  Jackson  to-day,  not 
a  card,  but  a  letter  written  from  St.  Louis,  ad- 
vising me  to  sell  out  and  arrange  to  follow  him, 
as  he  is  leading  the  life.  He  had  some  trouble, 
having  been  hit  by  a  truck  loaded  with  bootleg 
whisky,  which  tore  a  wheel  off  and  bent  an  axle, 
holding  him  up  two  days  for  repairs.  All  are 
well,  according  to  him,  but  he  said  nothing  about 
whether  Beatrice  has  captured  a  man  yet.  Show- 
ing the  letter  to  Polly,  and  she  thought  he  was 
serious  about  us  selling  out  and  putting  our 
money  into  a  trip  like  that,  when  all  we'd  have 
left  in  the  end  would  be  a  ruined  automobile  and 
maybe  a  bad  opinion  of  a  large  part  of  the 
country.  I  telling  her  that  there  was  no  chance 
for  anything  like  that,  as  even  if  I  had  money  I 
would  not  squander  it  that  way,  but  would  de- 
vote more  time  to  bringing  these  children  up 
as  they  should  be  brought  up  if  they  are  to  get 
the  most  out  of  life.  We  having  a  few  words 
about  what  people  are  on  this  earth  for,  and  then 
I  looking  after  my  patients,  Louise's  dolls,  which 
are  doing  much  better,  but  as  yet  are  not  able 
to  play  in  the  light. 

Oct.  6. — Polly  telling  me  this  evening  that  while 
she  was  out  walking  this  afternoon  with  Louise 
and  Conrad,  an  elderly  man  stopped  them  and 


October  23 1 

chucked  Conrad  under  the  chin  and  said  he  was 
one  of  the  finest  babies  he  ever  saw  in  his  life,  the 
picture  of  health,  and  with  a  shrewd,  smart  look 
about  his  eyes  which  shows  that  some  day  he 
will  be  a  good  business  man.  Polly  was  very 
much  pleased  with  what  the  stranger  said,  but 
I  saw  nothing  to  get  excited  about,  as  it  is  plain 
to  be  seen  that  Conrad  is  a  remarkable  boy  and 
has  developed  wonderfully  since  we  took  hold 
of  him  and  I  began  to  get  the  right  kind  of  tops 
for  him,  and  to  let  him  play  around  when  I  was 
working  on  the  car  and  not  getting  sore  when  he 
lost  a  wrench  now  and  then,  but  giving  him  a 
chance  to  see  how  men  do  things,  something  not 
everyone  will  do,  but  will  take  a  baby  like  that 
and  raise  Cain  with  him  if  he  gets  dirty  or  gets 
hurt  doing  something  he's  been  told  not  to  do. 
Conrad  has  quite  a  lot  of  words  now  and  promises 
to  be  a  good  talker,  saying  nothing  unless  he 
knows  what  he  is  talking  about  and  is  in  earnest. 
Regretting  that  I  cannot  take  him  walking  as 
an  example  to  some  people  in  this  neighborhood. 
Oct.  f. — Things,  have  taken  a  serious  turn  at 
the  office  to-day,  as  that  fellow  Carder  looked  a 
little  pale  this  morning,  and  when  I  asked  him 
if  he  was  feeling  all  right,  being  interested  in  the 
welfare  of  my  employees,  he  told  me  he  was  out 
on  a  little  party  last  night  and  got  in  late.  He 
wanted  to  talk  about  it,  so  I  let  him  go  ahead, 
being  curious  to  know  how  my  match  is  turning 


232  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

out,  and  I  soon  found  out  that  what  he  wished 
to  do  was  to  boast  that  he  had  been  out  on  a 
party  with  the  chief,  he  and  his  wife  and  Minnie 
and  the  chief.  I  said  nothing,  as  there  was 
nothing  I  could  say  at  that  time,  but  it  didn't 
take  me  long  to  see  through  the  chief's  little  game. 
Of  course,  it  made  some  difference  since  Minnie's 
sister  was  along,  and  I'll  give  the  chief  credit  for 
using  more  sense  than  he  usually  displays  around 
this  place,  but  I  spent  most  of  the  morning  try- 
ing to  think  up  some  way  to  let  the  chief  know 
that  I  consider  myself  responsible  for  Minnie's 
future  and  would  rather  he  left  her  alone.  Minnie 
will  be  less  use  than  ever  now,  dreaming  of  a 
life  of  ease  and  luxury. 

Oct.  8. — The  chief  came  into  my  place  to-day 
on  some  business  and  I  ringing  for  Minnie  about 
some  invoices.  The  chief  and  I  were  busy  when 
she  came  in,  and  he  gave  her  no  more  than  a 
glance,  and  neither  of  them  acted  as  if  they  had 
ever  seen  the  other  before,  which  stumped  me. 
Thinking  that  maybe  Carder's  wife  is  trying  to 
work  a  little  game  to  get  in  right  with  the  chief 
so  Carder  will  get  a  better  job.  When  Ethel  and 
Carder  were  married  and  all  were  talking  about 
it,  I  remember  that  Ethel  asked  the  chief  to  come 
to  their  house  for  dinner  some  time,  and  he  said 
he  would  consider  that  an  invitation  and  would 
be  there  whenever  she  said  the  word.  The  chief 
is  not  old  in  years,  but  in  holding  a  job  too  big 


October  233 

for  himself  he  has  worried  himself  ten  years 
ahead  of  his  real  age,  and  when  a  bunch  of 
young  people  begin  to  work  on  a  man  who  is 
far  enough  along  to  see  that  he  is  soon  going  to 
be  lonely,  there's  no  telling  what  kind  of  fool 
they  may  make  of  him.  I  saying  nothing,  but 
will  drop  a  bomb  among  them  some  day. 

Oct.  g. — Pay  day  to-day,  and,  as  usual,  I 
figured  on  where  I  stand  in  this  world,  counting 
what  I  have  put  away  for  the  kids,  that  being 
the  money  Bob  Pence  sends  every  month,  as  he 
could  not  very  well  get  out  of  doing  as  long  as 
he  professes  to  be  half  a  man,  and  also  not  count- 
ing it,  in  which  case  I  am  not  what  you  might 
call  rolling  in  wealth,  but  I  can  see  that  by  the 
end  of  the  year  I  am  going  to  have  a  neat  little 
sum  put  by  as  the  result  of  my  resolution  to  save 
some  money  this  year  in  spite  of  every  tempta- 
tion, as  any  man  can  do  if  he  has  some  strength 
of  character  and  is  not  too  soft-hearted  with  his 
family  about  luxuries  which  they  do  not  need. 
Buying  candy  for  Polly,  .and  a  folding  cardboard 
doll's  house  for  Louise,  and  a  fine  top  for  Conrad, 
which  he  cannot  spin,  being  unable  to  wind  it 
up,  but  which  I  can  spin  for  him.  Also  buying  a 
new  collar  for  Pep,  somebody  having  stolen  the 
one  he  had.  When  Polly  saw  that  the  collar  was 
gone,  she  said  Pep  must  be  a  good  watchdog, 
and  she  was  glad  he  was  around  in  case  the 
mirror  thief  came  back  again,  but  I  saying 


234  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

nothing,  as  she  cannot  understand  about  a  dog 
being  kept  gentle  for  kids. 

Oct.  10. — Out  early  this  morning  to  get  the 
car  fixed  up  before  church,  but  hardly  had  I 
reached  the  garage  when  Harry  Vickers  came 
along  with  his  hip  boots  on  and  said  this  was  some 
day  for  fishing  and  asked  me  to  go  along  with 
him  up  the  river  to  try  some  flies  he  tied  last 
night.  Getting  myself  some  breakfast  and  leav- 
ing a  note  for  Polly  saying  I  would  be  unable  to 
go  to  church,  and  getting  my  tackle  and  up  the 
river  with  Vickers  in  his  car.  I  never  learned  to 
cast  a  fly,  so  taking  my  short  rod  along  and  cast- 
ing plugs  for  bass  while  Harry  worked  the  river 
in  his  waders.  He  landed  a  couple  of  bass  and  I 
watched  him  play  a  game  which  I'll  admit  is  a 
good  one  and  he  seems  to  be  an  expert  at  it.  I 
was  tossing  my  plug  out  now  and  then  just  for 
fun,  when  suddenly  I  got  a  strike  that  almost 
pulled  me  into  the  water,  and  after  ten  minutes 
of  trying  to  keep  him  out  of  some  roots  I  pulled 
in  a  nice  two-pound  bass.  Back  home  by  noon, 
running  into  the  church  crowd,  which  does  me 
no  harm,  showing  that  I  am  not  a  slave  to  habits. 
Vickers  and  his  wife  came  to  our  house,  and  at 
four  o'clock  we  had  a  fine  fish  dinner. 

Oct.  ll. — Louise  calling  me  up  to-day  about 
her  dolls,  and  while  I  was  giving  some  learned 
medical  advice  over  the  phone  the  chief  stepped 
into  my  place,  and  when  I  got  through  he  said 


October  235 

to  me,  "What  are  you  doing,  practicing  medicine 
on  the  side  by  telephone?"  I  thought  of  a  hot 
one  about  like  this — "No,  I  am  attending  to  my 
own  business."  But  I  said  nothing,  merely 
asking  him  what  I  could  do  for  him,  paying  no 
attention  to  his  question,  ignoring  it  as  if  some 
fresh  kid  had  asked  it,  which  is  not  far  from  the 
truth,  as  I  understand  the  chief  thinks  I  expect 
to  get  his  job,  and  that  accounts  for  the  way  he  is 
picking  at  me  all  the  time,  like  a  jealous  child. 
Making  up  my  mind,  though,  that  I  will  get  up 
some  scheme  that  will  take  the  sarcastic  streak 
out  of  him  and  maybe  leave'him  regretting  to  the 
last  day  of  his  life  that  he  ever  crossed  the  path 
of  a  better  man.  Home  in  the  evening  and  look- 
ing over  Louise's  dolls  and  telling  her  that  they 
are  entirely  well  and  will  need  no  attention  or 
advice  over  the  telephone,  as  I  do  not  care  to 
risk  another  chance  to  jump  on  the  chief  as  I 
might  have  to-day. 

Oct.  12. — This  being  Columbus  Day,  celebrat- 
ing it  by  telling  the  children  the  story  of  Christo- 
pher Columbus,  who,  after  many  snubs  by  people 
who  thought  he  was  crazy,  set  out  to  discover 
the  New  World,  which  then  had  plenty  of  room 
for  everybody,  but  has  since  become  so  crowded 
that  a  man  can  hardly  get  around  in  a  machine 
on  Sunday,  and  is  scared  to  death  half  the  time 
by  the  flivvers  shooting  out  of  side  streets.  For 
a  ride  and  nearly  smashing  two  glass  flivvers, 


236  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

both  driven  by  women  who  acted  as  if  I  was  a 
collision  cruiser  working  for  the  garage  trust. 
Thinking  that  I  will  get  a  five-ton  truck,  which 
seems  to  stand  some  chance  against  everything 
but  railroad  trains.  This  afternoon  who  should 
come  past  our  place,  while  I  was  spinning  Con- 
rad's top  on  the  back  walk,  the  Indian  summer 
being  here  and  the  day  warm,  but  the  chief  and 
Minnie  in  the  chief's  roadster?  They  said  they 
were  just  passing  by  and  heard  that  I  had  a 
beautiful  place  and  did  not  intend  to  stop,  but 
saw  me.  Polly  down  at  Ellen's,  so  I  entertain- 
ing them  for  a  minute,  as  a  man  cannot  bawl  his 
chief  out  on  his  own  premises.  Besides,  the 
children  were  there. 

Oct.  Jj. — The  chief  coming  into  my  place  this 
morning  and  saying  he  was  glad  that  he  stopped 
at  my  place  yesterday,  as  he  has  been  living  down- 
town so  long  he  had  forgotten  what  the  suburbs 
are  like  except  that  they  are  places  a  man  goes 
through  to  get  to  another  town,  and  he  was 
reminded  of  the  pleasure  a  man  must  get  out  of  a 
nice  house  and  lot  among  congenial  people  in  the 
same  financial  class.  He  talked  like  a  man 
suddenly  smitten  with  the  idea  that  a  man  is  on 
this  earth  to  get  married,  establish  a  home,  and 
do  what  he  can  to  start  a  few  children  in  life  a 
little  better  than  he  was  able  to  start.  Feeling 
sort  of  sorry  for  him,  for  when  he  talks  about 
something  of  that  kind,  something  outside  the 


October  237 

regular  routine  of  business  at  the  works,  he  acts 
almost  human,  as  if  he  held  his  job  because  people 
liked  him  and  worked  for  him  out  of  affection 
rather  than  because  they  are  afraid  he  will  bawl 
them  out  in  front  of  a  lot  of  people.  Saying 
nothing  to  him  about  Minnie,  except  what  was 
he  trying  to  do,  undermine  the  discipline  in  my 
department?  Hoping  that  he  got  the  point  in 
spite  of  my  joking  manner. 

Oct.  14. — Polly  telling  me  to-day  that  Walker 
is  going  to  be  away  over  the  week-end  and  she 
has  invited  Mrs.  Walker  to  go  to  church  with 
us  and  to  have  dinner  with  us,  which  news  proved 
to  be  just  exactly  what  I  was  looking  for,  as  my 
brain  acts  like  a  flash  in  such  cases,  and  I  acted 
immediately,  saying  to  Polly  that  the  Lowder 
girl  who  was  out  here  with  the  chief  Sunday  is 
very  lonely  and  I  thought  that  in  view  of  the 
heroism  of  her  brother  we  ought  to  do  a  little 
something  for  her,  as  I  know  she  would  like  to 
see  more  of  our  place,  and  maybe  we  had  better 
invite  her  to  dinner  and  be  kind  to  a  poor  girl 
trying  to  make  her  way  in  the  world.  But  it 
took  some  persuasion  to  make  Polly  see  that  this 
should  be  done,  as  I  did  not  care  to  tell  her  my 
real  reason,  but  finally  said  that  the  chief  is 
interested  in  Minnie  and  through  her  I  may  make 
myself  solid  with  the  chief  and  get  an  increase  in 
pay  the  first  of  the  year.  This  finally  worked,  so 
to-morrow  I  am  to  say  to  Minnie  that  Polly  was 


238  Sam   Blick's  Diary 

sorry  she  was  not  at  home  Tuesday  and  would 
like  to  have  her  come  to  dinner.  Saying  nothing 
about  the  chief  coming,  too,  as  he  is  nothing  to 
me. 

Oct.  75. — This  morning  at  breakfast  Polly  try- 
ing to  hedge  on  the  invitation  to  Minnie,  but  I 
finally  winning  out,  and  as  soon  as  I  got  to  the 
office  calling  Minnie  in  and  asking  her  if  she 
could  come,  feeling  that  maybe  she  had  a  date 
with  the  chief  and  would  hold  out,  but  she 
jumped  at  the  chance,  saying  that  Ethel  had  told 
her  of  my  kindness  to  her  when  she  first  came 
to  the  city  a  stranger,  and  the  way  she  ran 
away  from  our  house,  being  merely  frightened 
and  knowing  no  better,  and  Minnie  was  eager 
to  do  what  she  could  to  show  that  the  whole 
Lowder  family  was  not  like  that  and  to  try  to 
excuse  Ethel's  conduct  to  Polly  and  Ellen.  This 
fitting  into  my  plan  as  if  I  had  thought  that  she 
would  accept  for  that  reason  and  had  dropped  a 
hint  or  two.  Telling  Polly  about  it  in  the  eve- 
ning, and  she  took  a  different  view  of  the  matter, 
getting  a  little  curious  about  Minnie,  her  appear- 
ance and  all,  and  deciding  that,  after  all,  there 
was  nothing  wrong  about  inviting  a  person  she 
didn't  know  to  the  house  for  dinner.  Mrs. 
Walker  in  her  yard  looking  rather  sad,  and  prob- 
ably thinking  how  happy  she  might  have  been 
with  a  husband  her  own  age. 

Oct.  16. — Pay  day  to-day  and  finding  that  I 


October  239 

am  getting  ahead  a  little  on  my  savings.  Work- 
ing on  the  car  most  of  the  afternoon,  using  some 
new  polish  which  makes  it  look  well  in  spite  of 
the  way  I  abused  it  by  washing  it  in  the  bright 
sun  when  I  first  got  it,  not  knowing  any  better, 
as  no  one  ever  told  me.  All  set  for  the  climax 
of  my  plot,  which  comes  to-morrow,  the  point 
being  that  the  chief  is  a  much  older  man  than 
Minnie,  and  I  figure  that  sooner  or  later,  espe- 
cially if  I  get  in  a  hint,  Mrs.  Walker  and  Minnie 
will  get  to  talking  and  Mrs.  Walker  will  have 
something  to  say  about  what  a  fool  a  girl  is  to 
marry  a  man  so  much  older  than  herself  that  they 
can  have  nothing  in  common  except  a  desire  to 
be  rid  of  each  other.  Minnie,  being  a  smart  girl, 
outside  of  office  hours,  will  believe  a  personal 
experience  like  that,  and  if  she  is  sensible,  she 
will  give  the  chief  the  air  for  life,  seeing  not  his 
money  and  his  job,  but  life  with  him  day  after 
day  as  his  wife.  Mrs.  Walker  over  in  the  evening, 
and  when  Polly  said  something  about  Minnie,  I 
said,  "Yes,  and  she's  a  girl  that  could  profit  by 
some  advice  about  marrying  a  man  her  own  age." 
Oct.  77. — The  dinner  was  a  great  success,  the 
chief  and  Minnie  driving  up  in  his  car  just  as 
we  got  from  church,  so  that  Mrs.  Walker  had  a 
chance  to  size  him  and  Minnie  up  together 
Polly  said  something  about  him  staying,  but  he 
excused  himself  on  the  ground  that  he  had  a  golf 
engagement  at  his  country  club,  which  may  or 


240  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

may  not  have  been  a  bluff.  Minnie  was  soon  the 
life  of  the  party,  making  a  great  hit  with  the 
children,  and  she  had  on  a  dress  which  showed 
she  is  not  only  making  good  use  of  her  increased 
salary,  but  also  of  her  taste,  as,  taking  her  alto- 
gether, she  was  enough  to  set  any  man  guessing, 
especially  her  eyes.  The  dinner  went  off  all 
right,  and  after  dinner,  while  Polly  was  giving 
some  attention  to  the  children,  I  strolled  out  in 
the  back  yard  and  left  Minnie  and  Janet  to  talk 
it  over,  which  they  did,  Janet  filling  Minnie  to  the 
brim,  as  I  could  see  by  the  way  Minnie  listened. 
Taking  Minnie  home  in  the  car,  and  I  must  say 
she  could  look  farther  and  do  better  in  the  way 
of  a  place  to  live  if  she  ever  does  get  married. 
Oct.  18. — The  chief  into  my  place  again  to-day 
for  something  besides  business,  trying  to  find 
out  from  me  about  what  my  family  thought  of 
Minnie,  and  I  saying  nothing  at  first,  but  finally, 
when  he  hung  around  till  he  was  interfering  with 
my  work,  which  must  go  ahead  as  if  the  place 
was  run  right,  under  the  direction  of  a  real  man- 
ager, I  told  him  we  were  very  much  pleased  with 
Minnie  and  would  like  to  have  her  come  out 
again,  when  we  could  have  some  of  my  daughter's 
friends  in  for  her  amusement,  as  she  is  a  bright 
girl  and  it  is  a  shame  for  her  to  waste  her  time 
with  people  who  are  old  enough  to  be  set  in  their 
habits  and  cannot  appreciate  her  at  her  full 
value.  He  failed  to  get  the  point,  but  acted  as 


October  241 

if  he  thought  he  was  about  her  age  and  she  had 
better  be  jazzing  around  with  him  instead  of 
killing  time  at  our  house.  I  said  nothing  to 
this,  as  I  have  planted  the  dynamite  and  expect 
to  hear  any  day  that  it  has  exploded  and  blown 
some  of  the  conceit  out  of  him.  Saying  nothing 
to  Polly  about  it  in  the  evening,  as  she  persists 
in  thinking  that  my  interest  in  Minnie  is  per- 
sonal. When  a  girl  allows  an  elderly  widower  to 
pay  her  attention  she  is  open  to  all  sorts  of 
suspicions. 

Oct.  19. — Another  mellow  fall  day  and  the 
clerks  around  my  place  getting  a  touch  of  spring 
fever,  for  which  I  could  not  blame  them,  as 
people  will  be  human  in  spite  of  all  you  can  do 
to  keep  them  hard  at  their  jobs.  With  every- 
body loafing  that  way,  Minnie  Lowder  does  not 
seem  so  bad,  though  running  around  with  the 
chief  has  done  her  no  good.  Fred  and  Ellen  up 
to  our  house  in  the  evening,  probably  being  broke 
and  no  place  to  go,  and  they  and  Polly  talking 
about  nothing  but  the  price  of  groceries,  telling 
how  they  could  save  a  cent  here  and  two  cents 
there,  provided  they  looked  long  enough  and 
maybe  spent  more  for  gasoline  than  they  saved, 
the  gas,  however,  being  on  me,  as  from  the  way 
Ellen  runs  the  Car  around  you  would  think  that 
it  was  hers  and  she  merely  lets  me  have  it  long 
enough  to  take  care  of  it  so  it  will  run.  This 
making  no  difference  to  me,  however,  as  she  is  a 


242  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

bride  only  once  and  the  car  will  probably  make 
life  a  little  easier  for  her  until  she  gets  used  to  the 
idea  of  having  a  home  to  take  care  of  and  a 
husband  to  look  out  for,  which  she  is  good  at, 
Fred  looking  happy  and  prosperous. 

Oct.  20. — Bill  Hines  into  my  place  to-day 
and  telling  me  that  the  world  looks  rosy  to  him 
and  having  the  nerve  to  ask  me  what  was  the 
matter  with  me,  as  I  looked  as  if  I  had  lost  my 
last  friend.  Saying  nothing  to  this,  as  he  is  the 
last  man  that  has  any  business  to  speak  of  a 
man  losing  his  last  friend,  the  way  he  trimmed  all 
his  friends  on  that  oil  deal  and  lost  nearly  all  of 
them.  If  he  had  a  conscience  in  his  head  he 
would  look  like  something  pretty  close  to  a 
swindler.  But  I  did  ask  him  where  he  got  the 
nerve  to  think  that  because  he  was  well  dressed 
he  looked  like  anything  more  than  a  slick  bunco 
steerer  of  some  kind,  not  wishing  to  offend  him, 
and  knowing  that  as  long  as  I  called  him  well 
dressed  I  could  call  him  nearly  anything  else  and 
he  would  not  hear  me.  He  had  some  sort  of  oil 
proposition,  but  I  told  him  to  try  it  on  some 
young  fellow  who  had  just  inherited  about  $5,000 
that  his  dad  had  spent  a  lifetime  getting  together, 
and  he  saying  that  he  might  do  that  if  he  knew 
of  such  a  man,  but  he  preferred  a  person  of  ripe 
judgment,  like  Al  Jackson.  They  are  all  talking 
about  Al's  luck  and  calling  it  judgment.  Home 
to  a  good  dinner  and  glad  of  it. 


October  243 

Oct.  21. — Fine  weather  these  days,  Indian  sum- 
mer being  with  us,  according  to  some,  and  accord- 
ing to  others  it  is  just  the  end  of  the  summer,  but 
I  am  not  one  to  dispute  about  seasons  and 
weather,  taking  what  comes  as  it  is  served  up 
and  making  the  most  of  it.  Louise  and  I  for  a 
walk  in  the  evening,  getting  a  lot  of  pleasure 
out  of  walking,  as  she  asks  me  dozens  of  ques- 
tions and  I  take  the  time  to  give  the  best  possible 
explanation  I  can  of  everything  she  asks  about, 
not  cutting  her  off  short  as  many  people  do  with 
their  children,  so  that  the  children  grow  up 
timid  and  ignorant.  Louise  wanting  to  know 
who  hung  the  stars  out  at  night  and  I  told  her 
that  God  did,  giving  her  to  understand  that 
there  is  a  great  power  which  no  one  understands, 
and  not  going  into  a  lot  of  scientific  explanations 
about  the  sun,  moon,  and  planets,  which  she 
would  never  have  understood  and  would  prob- 
ably have  thought  me  foolish  for  trying  to  explain. 
Meeting  Herbert  Koontz  on  the  way  home  and 
he  telling  me  his  domestic  troubles,  which  I 
closed  him  down  on,  as  he  acted  as  if  Louise 
wasn't  there,  showing  what  he  knows  about 
children. 

Oct.  22. — To-day  I  lost  a  good  man  in  my 
department  when  I  lost  Carder,  as  he  goes  into 
the  chief's  ofHce  as  a  correspondent,  which  I'll 
admit  he  is  qualified  for,  as  I  put  most  of  this 
work  on  him  in  my  department  and  developed 


244  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

him  for  the  good  of  the  firm.  He  and  I  had  a 
little  talk  when  he  came  into  say  that  he  was 
sorry  to  leave  me,  and  I  found  out  that  the  chief 
got  mixed  up  in  their  affairs  about  as  I  expected, 
that  Ethel  girl  having  met  him  on  the  street  one 
day  and  reminded  him  that  he  had  promised  to 
have  dinner  with  them,  and  one  thing  led  to 
another  till  he  promised  to  come  that  evening, 
and  Ethel  had  Minnie  along  to  make  it  four, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  evening  the  chief  and 
Minnie  got  to  talking  shop,  as  two  people  of 
that  kind  would,  and  from  that  time  since  the 
chief  has  been  rushing  her.  After  what  Mrs. 
Walker  probably  told  Minnie  about  the  Walker 
troubles  growing  out  of  too  many  years  between 
them  in  age,  it  looks  to  me  as  if  Minnie  ought  to 
throw  him  over  instead  of  dangling  him  along; 
but  he's  a  good  spender,  I  suppose,  and  she  is 
human  enough  to  like  joy  rides.  Meanwhile  his 
work  is  suffering  and  my  discipline  will  soon  be 
shot  to  pieces. 

Oct.  23. — Fred  calling  me  up  to-day  and  we 
going  to  lunch  together,  and  he  asking  for  some 
advice  about  family  matters,  telling  me  frankly 
that  he  is  up  against  it  financially.  He  and  Ellen 
hadn't  figured  on  clothes,  so  when  the  cool  days 
came  this  week  he  bought  a  suit  and  fall  over- 
coat, as  he  had  to  in  order  to  keep  looking  well, 
as  a  salesman  must  if  he  is  to  unload  the  stuff, 
and  then  along  came  Ellen  about  a  fall  suit,  hat, 


October  245 

shoes,  and  other  clothes,  and  there  was  no  money 
on  hand  for  them,  so  I  guess  that's  what  started 
the  rumpus,  though  Fred  hurried  over  that  part. 
He  figures  that  he  has  to  have  the  clothes,  which 
is  right,  and  yet  he  thinks  it  is  unfair  to  Ellen 
to  have  to  go  without,  having  to  wear  last  year's 
clothes  and  feel  a  little  out  of  place  among  the 
girls  she  runs  around  with.  I  told  him  that  it 
was  my  experience  on  clothes  that  a  man  must 
get  them  and  trust  to  luck  to  escape  bankruptcy, 
but  when  Polly  and  I  were  first  married  we  wore 
our  clothes  for  years.  Telling  Polly  about  it  in 
the  evening,  and  she  knew  the  other  side  of  it 
from  Ellen,  so  I  finally  saying  I  could  go  $100, 
which  is  a  lot. 

Oct.  24.. — Ellen  came  out  to  the  garage  this 
morning  while  I  was  fixing  a  tire,  and  acted  as  if 
she  had  done  something  terrible,  saying  that  she 
didn't  know  that  Fred  was  going  to  talk  to  me 
about  her  clothes,  and  that  Fred  was  sore  be- 
cause she  had  gone  to  Polly  on  the  same  subject, 
and  when  Polly  told  her  that  I  had  said  I  would 
stake  her  to  a  fall  outfit,  she  was  sure  I  would 
think  that  she  and  Fred  had  been  working  a 
game  to  get  some  money  out  of  me.  She  said 
that  rather  than  take  the  money  she  would  go 
without  any  clothes  at  all.  That  getting  my 
goat,  and  I  telling  her  that  it  was  funny  that  a 
man  in  my  position  could  not  make  his  daughter 
a  gift  of  a  few  clothes  without  being  thought  a 


246  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

fool.  Telling  her  that  if  she  did  not  get  the 
clothes  at  my  expense  I  would  consider  myself 
insulted,  and  she  finally  seeing  it  my  way.  The 
news  may  get  out,  but  it  will  do  me  no  harm  to 
have  people  saying  that  I  am  certainly  doing  the 
right  thing  by  my  daughter.  To  church,  and 
in  the  afternoon,  the  day  growing  warmer,  for 
a  fine  ride,  enjoying  the  yellow  and  red  foliage, 
which  is  now  at  its  best.  Pep  chasing  a  rabbit, 
but  missing  it. 

Oct.  25. — A  dull  day  to-day,  as  it  was  cloudy 
and  a  cold  mist  flew  around  most  of  the  day  anck 
I  must  have  eaten  something  yesterday  that  did 
not  agree  with  me.  A  man's  health  makes  no 
difference,  anyhow,  as  when  he  is  ready  to  die  he 
will  die,  and  when  you  get  down  to  rock  bottom 
there's  nothing  much  to  live  for,  anyhow,  just 
plugging  away  and  paying  the  bills,  and  for  my 
part  the  weather  can  be  whatever  it  cares  to  be. 
Home  in  the  evening  to  play  with  the  children, 
fixing  Louise's  skates,  and  thinking  that  the 
children  will  soon  be  grown  up  and  married  and 
gone  away  from  us  and  then  there  will  be  no  one 
left  but  Polly  and  Pep  and  me,  and  as  likely  as 
not  Pep  will  be  gone  by  that  time,  as  dogs  hardly 
ever  live  to  be  more  than  fifteen  years  old,  and 
he  is  nearly  one  year  old  already.  Smoking  my 
pipe  all  evening  and  reading  in  the  paper  about 
a  murder  and  several  divorces,  robberies,  suicides, 
and  a  race  riot,  showing  that  human  life  is  not 


October  247 

held  very  high  in  this  world.  Taking  some  pills, 
as  I  guess  I  am  getting  old  and  about  ready  to 
pay  for  spending  too  many  years  at  a  desk, 
where  a  man  has  no  business  being. 

Oct.  26. — I  got  more  done  in  my  department 
to-day  than  any  other  department  head  can  get 
done  in  his  department  in  three  days,  in  spite 
of  the  chief's  doing  all  he  can  to  ruin  my  dis- 
cipline. Home  early  to  find  that  Polly  had  a 
bad  blow-out  on  an  old  tire  to-day  and  had  to 
get  a  new  one,  but  that  making  no  difference  to 
me,  as  a  man  has  a  long  time  to  live  and  a  tire 
more  or  less  means  nothing  to  me.  Taking  the 
children  for  a  walk  in  the  brisk  late  afternoon 
air,  and  enjoying  every  step  of  the  way,  noticing 
that  people  turned  to  look  at  me,  and  probably 
they  were  saying  to  themselves  that  I  look  young 
to  be  the  father  of  those  two  children.  Romping 
on  the  floor  with  the  children  before  they  went 
to  bed  and  showing  them  that,  although  I  may 
have  lived  a  few  years,  my  heart  is  still  young 
and  I  have  pep  enough  to  amuse  the  most  active 
of  children.  Pep  bringing  an  old  stocking  to  me 
for  a  tug,  and  I  wore  him  out,  even  though  the 
children  helped  him,  swinging  him  around  my 
head  several  times.  In  the  evening  getting  in  a 
few  neighbors,  rousing  them  from  their  reading 
lamps  and  easy  chairs,  and  putting  on  a  little 
game,  winning  $4.60. 

Oct.  27. — Riding  down  on  the  car  with  Harry 


248  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Vickers  this  morning  and  he  telling  me  that  after 
the  game  at  my  house  last  night  he  got  to 
thinking  that  perhaps  I  was  the  man  he  was 
looking  for  to  go  with  him  on  a  sales  agency  here 
in  town.  He  knows  the  motor  game  from  A  to 
Z  and  claims  that  there  is  a  great  future  in  farm 
tractors  and  he  has  a  chance  to  hook  up  with  this 
territory  for  a  new  firm  which  has  a  world  beater. 
He  can  handle  the  sales  end  all  right  and  he  has 
a  line  on  a  man  who  can  handle  the  service  end, 
but  he  is  looking  for  some  one  with  about  $5,000 
who  will  go  into  the  office  end  and  work  like  a 
horse  till  the  thing  gets  going.  I'd  have  to  hock 
my  home  to  the  hilt  to  raise  $5,000,  but  telling 
him  that  I  would  think  it  over,  which  I  will, 
though  I  can't  see  much  chance  of  getting  a  good 
start  in  that  game  now,  when  the  prices  of  farm 
products  have  dropped  to  less  than  cost  and 
farmers  can't  buy  what  they  have  to  have,  let 
alone  take  a  chance  on  a  new  kind  of  tractor. 
Telling  Polly  about  it  in  the  evening,  and  saying 
that  I  might  lose  everything,  as  it  was  a  big 
chance,  and  she  having  little  to  say,  preferring 
to  leave  these  matters  to  my  better  judgment. 

Oct.  28. — The  chief  all  excited  and  blowing 
into  my  place  this  morning  as  if  the  plant  were 
burning  down  and  I  had  started  the  fire,  and 
jumping  all  over  me  about  a  mistake  some  clerk 
made  which  nearly  lost  a  good  customer.  I 
telling  him  to  cool  off  and  get  it  off"  his  chest,  and 


October  249 

he  looking  at  me  as  if  he  thought  I  was  going 
pretty  far  in  acting  like  a  human  being  in  his 
presence.  One  word  leading  to  another  and  I 
finally  telling  him  that  he  would  gain  nothing  by 
trying  to  run  down  my  department,  as  the  whole 
plant  is  going  to  ruin  under  his  management,  and 
for  my  part  I  was  even  now  entertaining  a  propo- 
sition to  go  with  a  firm  that  knew  ability  when  it 
saw  it  and  believed  in  putting  the  best  man  at 
the  head  of  things.  Giving  him  no  chance  to 
recover  from  this,  I  let  him  have  the  other 
barrel,  telling  him  that  if  there  was  any  mistake 
in  my  clerical  department  it  would  not  be  diffi- 
cult to  find  the  cause,  as  some  girls,  however 
able,  are  not  strong  enough  to  stand  attention, 
and  tend  to  ruin  an  entire  department.  The 
chief  went  out  and  I  suppose  I  went  too  far,  but 
I  am  not  a  slave  to  my  job  and  can  get  another 
one  any  time  by  turning  my  hand. 

Oct.  29. — The  chief  saying  no  more  to  me  to- 
day about  the  matter  that  came  up  yesterday, 
except  that  he  hopes  I  will  not  make  any  outside 
arrangements  until  the  first  of  the  year,  when  we 
will  settle  the  whole  matter.  I  am  not  sure  what 
he  means  by  this,  but  I  notice  that  he  is  a  little 
more  pleasant,  and  I  think  I  have  him  now 
where,  if  he  starts  anything,  I'll  get  back  at  him 
by  taking  a  good  crack  at  him  in  the  presence  of 
that  Minnie  girl,  calling  him  something  like  a 
cackling  old  man,  so  she  will  get  to  thinking 


250  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

along  the  lines  Mrs.  Walker  started  her  on  and 
feel  ashamed  to  accept  his  attentions,  even 
though  he  probably  spends  a  lot  of  money  trying 
to  entertain  her.  Down  to  Vickers's  house  this 
evening  and  telling  him  that  I  will  have  to  have 
some  more  time  on  that  sales  proposition,  as 
my  company  may  make  me  a  very  attractive 
proposition,  and  yet  it  may  not  develop  till  the 
first  of  the  year.  Making  this  strong,  as  it  will 
do  me  no  harm  in  this  neighborhood,  where  I 
am  already  known  as  a  substantial  citizen  and 
have  twice  been  listed  in  the  newspapers  as  among 
leading  citizens  who  protested  against  wasting 
public  funds,  to  have  a  man  like  Vickers  going 
around  saying  that  I  seem  to  be  in  line  for  some- 
thing big  in  my  line,  which  is  true. 

Oct.  jo. — Pay  day  and  figuring  where  I  stand, 
including  the  increase  in  salary  which  the  chief 
practically  promised  me  after  the  first  of  the 
year,  and  which  will  be  at  least  $15  a  week, 
making  $100  a  week  for  me,  which  is  about  half 
what  I  would  be  making  if  the  company  were  run 
on  an  efficient  basis,  instead  of  to  provide  jobs 
for  a  lot  of  men  who  are  a  disgrace  to  the  word 
executive.  Seeing  that  I  am  fixed  all  right, 
speaking  in  the  evening  to  Polly  about  winter 
clothes  for  her  and  the  children,  and  this  after- 
noon going  around  to  my  tailor,  where  I  have 
not  been  since  the  first  fall  after  the  war  started, 
and  ordering  a  suit,  as  a  man  who  is  in  line  for  a 


October  251 

higher  executive  position  should  look  and  act 
the  part.  As  for  acting  it,  I  have  been  doing 
that  for  ten  years,  but  I  have  to  dress  well  to 
look  it.  Polly  delighted,  and  asking  me  what  was 
the  occasion  for  this  splurging,  and  I  saying  that 
I  got  a  boost  of  $10  a  week  in  pay,  which  is  right, 
even  if  ten  months  late,  so  relieving  my  conscience 
of  that  little  deception,  which  was  justified  at  the 
time,  and  has  since  slipped  my  mind.  Polly  and 
I  to  the  movies,  Ellen  and  Fred  volunteering  to 
stay  with  the  kids. 

Oct.  JJ. — Working  on  the  car  awhile  this 
morning  and  not  noticing  that  Conrad  was  play- 
ing with  an  old  rag  that  I  had  used  to  wipe 
grease  cups  and  the  transmission  housing  with, 
and  before  I  knew  it  had  black  grease  from  head 
to  foot,  so  I  let  him  go  ahead  and  enjoy  himself, 
as  both  of  us  would  get  the  devil,  anyhow,  and  he 
got  down  on  his  back  in  the  oil  on  the  garage 
floor  and  worked  as  hard  as  I  did.  Then  we  went 
to  the  house  and  took  our  medicine,  which  was 
not  bad,  as  Mrs.  Walker  had  stepped  in  for  a 
minute  to  ask  Polly  how  she  made  apple  dump- 
lings, and  Conrad  was  so  dirty  that  he  looked 
funny.  All  to  church,  where  Fred  and  Ellen 
showed  up  in  their  new  clothes,  looking  like  a 
million  dollars,  and  I  could  see  people  looking  at 
them  as  if  to  say  that  they  were  surely  prosper- 
ing for  a  young  couple  who  were  married  only 
a  few  months  ago  without  anything,  which  will 


Sam  Blick's  Diary 

do  me  no  harm,  as,  while  I  have  said  little  or 
nothing  about  my  generosity  toward  Ellen,  I 
suppose  it  is  being  talked  of  in  the  neighborhood, 
where  nobody's  affairs  are  private.  For  a  ride 
in  the  afternoon,  but  the  wind  too  cold  for 
pleasure,  so  home  and  all  racing  over  the  house 
with  Pep  till  worn  out. 


November 

Nov.  i — A  cold  rain  falling  this  morning  when 
I  got  up,  but  I  never  let  anything  like  that  inter- 
fere with  me,  as  a  man  who  gives  in  to  the  weather, 
unless  he  has  to  work  out  in  it,  is  looking  only  for 
a  chance  to  loaf  on  the  job.  Down  on  the  car  this 
morning  with  a  bunch  of  men  from  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  from  the  way  they  talked  you  would 
think  the  fate  of  the  world  depended  on  the  way 
they  vote  to-morrow.  I  saying  nothing,  as 
politics  means  nothing  to  me,  as  I  found  out 
years  ago  how  to  vote.  Some  of  the  clerks 
arguing  about  who  will  be  elected  and  betting 
more  money  than  they  can  afford  to  lose.  Com- 
ing home  on  the  car  this  evening,  there  was  an- 
other argument,  everybody  being  cold,  wet,  and 
hungry,  and  one  or  two  loud  men  acted  as  if  they 
wanted  to  fight,  which  was  all  I  cared  to  know 
about  them,  and  I  said  nothing  more.  Playing 
with  the  children  until  Polly  said  they  must  go 
to  bed,  which  is  all  right,  I  suppose,  but  telling 
her  that  for  my  part  I  would  as  soon  they  took 
a  longer  nap  during  the  day  so  I  could  have  a 
chance  to  get  acquainted  with  them,  now  that  it 

2S3 


254  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

is  dark  so  early  and  there  is  nothing  much  to  do  in 
the  evening. 

Nov.  2. — A  lot  of  loose  talk  at  the  office  to-day, 
especially  among  the  girls,  about  how  they  should 
vote,  and  from  what  I  could  make  out  they  are 
all  voting  the  way  their  fathers  vote,  which  is  all 
right,  as  I  vote  the  way  my  father  voted  and  will 
not  stand  for  any  arguments  to  the  contrary, 
being  too  strong-minded  to  have  my  opinions 
changed  by  a  lot  of  spellbinders  and  newspaper 
editors.  Home  early  this  afternoon,  and  Polly, 
Ellen  and  Fred  and  I  all  in  the  bus  over  to  the 
polls,  where  we  all  voted  the  straight  ticket,  and 
then  all  back  to  our  house  to  dinner  and  intend- 
ing to  play  cards  this  evening,  but  Harry  Vickers 
calling  up  and  asking  if  I  cared  to  join  a  little 
party  in  a  hotel  downtown  where  we  could  see  a 
newspaper  bulletin  board,  so  going  down  with 
him.  Herb  Koontz  went  down  with  us  and  three 
other  men  came  in,  all  friends  of  Vickers's,  and 
we  had  a  little  game  which  went  all  right  till 
Koontz  lost  his  temper  on  a  misdeal  and  after 
that  he  got  sore  twice  because  I  beat  him  with 
pairs.  Staying  later  than  I  intended  to  stay,  and 
losing  no  more  than  I  can  afford,  which  is  good 
diversion  for  a  man  sometimes. 

Nov.  3. — Carder  coming  into  my  place  this 
morning  and  acting  as  if  he  had  something  on  his 
chest,  so  I  letting  him  talk,  as  that  is  the  only 
way  to  get  rid  of  him,  and  he  finally  saying  that 


November  255 

the  chief  and  Minnie  are  getting  pretty  thick  and 
he  does  not  quite  know  what  to  think.  I  saying 
nothing,  as  there  was  nothing  to  say,  merely 
remarking  that  as  Carder  is  her  only  male  relative 
around  this  part  of  the  country  it  is  up  to  him  to 
do  something  one  way  or  the  other.  He  needs  a 
bigger  hat  already,  and  I  suppose  that  he  feels 
that  he  is  already  as  good  as  promoted  to  the 
first  good  job  open  around  this  place,  and  I  am 
glad  I  don't  have  to  put  up  with  him  any  more  in 
my  department.  Home  in  the  evening  and  telling 
Polly  about  it,  and  she  saying  that  it  looked  to 
her  as  if  I  was  taking  a  lot  of  interest  in  people's 
love  affairs,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  that  Walker 
woman  gave  Minnie  a  line  of  talk  about  how  a 
girl  had  better  marry  some  one  much  older  upon 
whom  she  could  lean  in  time  of  trouble  and  be 
petted,  etc.,  showing  that  she  must  have  decided 
that  Walker  was  the  best  she  could  get  and  she 
had  better  put  up  with  him,  but  that  finishes  her 
with  me. 

Nov.  4. — That  story  about  Minnie  running 
around  with  the  chief  has  leaked  out  and  run  all 
over  the  shop,  and  this  morning  the  girls  around 
the  place  were  all  buzzing  away  and  doing  no 
work  whatever.  It  suddenly  seemed  to  me  that 
the  situation  was  threatening  to  get  beyond  my 
control,  a  thing  which  I  never  allow  to  happen 
in  my  department.  If  Carder,  whose  natural 
business  it  is  to  look  after  Minnie,  will  not  do  it,  I 


256  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

must.  With  me  to  determine,  is  to  act.  So  send- 
ing for  Minnie.  Telling  her  that  what  I  was  about 
to  do  might  seem  a  little  severe,  but  it  was  for 
her  own  good  and  the  time  would  come  when  she 
would  thank  me  for  it.  I  then  fired  her,  telling 
her  to  take  a  week's  salary,  but  under  the  cir- 
cumstances it  was  better  for  her  not  to  come 
back.  She  seemed  surprised  more  than  dis- 
pleased. And  so  at  last  I  am  through  with  the 
whole  Lowder  tribe. 

Nov.  5. — Some  snow  flying  to-day,  causing  me 
to  think  that  it  is  about  time  to  jack  the  old 
bus  up  in  the  garage,  send  the  battery  down- 
town, take  the  tires  off  and  store  them  in  the 
cellar,  and  put  her  away,  as  we  have  no  use  for  a 
car  in  the  winter,  the  thing  being  more  trouble 
than  it  is  worth.  The  dancing  club  danced  to- 
night, and  Ellen  and  Fred  up  to  our  house, 
bringing  two  other  couples  to  play  cards,  while 
Polly  and  I  went  to  the  dance,  where  I  had  a  good 
time  for  awhile,  but  finally  only  danced  so  that 
no  one  would  have  to  sit  around,  as  there  were 
the  same  number  of  men  and  women,  and  getting 
no  good  dancers  later  in  the  evening,  as  they  were 
all  tired,  or  at  least  acted  that  way.  Some 
people  not  coming  till  nearly  time  to  quit, 
acting  as  if  they  had  rested  nearly  all  day  in 
order  to  have  pep  enough  for  two  or  three 
dances,  whereas  for  my  part  I  had  plenty  of  pep 
and  could  have  had  a  lot  more  fun  if  most  of  the 


November  257 

women  I  danced  with  later  in  the  evening  had 
not  been  so  tired  that  I  had  to  drag  them  around. 
But  Polly  had  a  good  time,  and,  as  I  told  her, 
I'll  go  again  for  her  sake,  she  saying  that  it  is  a 
good  way  to  show  that  I  am  still  young. 

Nov.  6. — The  chief  coming  in  to-day  using  a 
matter  of  business  as  an  excuse,  but,  seeing  that 
it  was  no  use  trying  to  fool  me,  asked  whether  it 
was  true  that  I  had  discharged  that  Minnie 
Lowder.  I  giving  him  as  much  of  the  truth  as  he 
is  capable  of  understanding,  saying  that,  while  I 
had  once  thought  the  girl  had  possibilities,  it  now 
appeared  that  a  little  attention  from  certain 
quarters  which  probably  meant  nothing  had 
quite  turned  her  head,  her  work  had  suffered,  and 
the  place  had  reeked  with  gossip.  I  ended  by 
saying  that  we  would  all  be  better  off  without  her, 
giving  him  a  meaning  look.  He  getting  the  point 
all  right,  for  he  flushed  up  and  soon  went  away. 
Telling  Polly  about  it  in  the  evening,  and  she 
saying  that  I  should  use  a  little  more  tact  around 
the  chief. 

Nov.  "/. — To  church  this  morning,  Ellen  and 
Fred  going  with  us,  and  all  of  us  togged  out  in  our 
new  clothes,  so  that  we  made  quite  a  hit,  not 
that  anyone  got  up  and  told  us  how  well  we 
looked  as  we  came  in,  but  you  could  see  that 
everyone  was  looking  at  us  and  I  saw  three  or 
four  people  whisper  to  people  near  them,  so  the 
trip  to  church  was  well  worth  while,  as  it  does  a 


258  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

man  no  harm  to  have  people  say,  "There  comes 
Blick  and  his  family  all  togged  out  for  the  winter, 
so  Blick  must  be  getting  along  in  the  world  all 
right/'  Which  is  the  truth,  as,  although  I  never 
made  much  money,  I  live  within  my  income,  pay 
my  debts  and  take  good  care  of  my  family.  After 
the  sermon  I  talked  to  the  preacher  a  while, 
suggesting  subjects  for  other  sermons,  such  as  a 
little  talk  on  thrift  for  the  benefit  of  a  few  people 
in  our  church  who  never  save  a  cent,  but  spend 
all  they  can  make  or  get  hold  of  on  clothes  and 
cars.  Home  to  a  good  dinner,  and  in  the  after- 
noon all  for  a  ride  in  the  bus,  which  is  about  too 
small  for  all  of  us,  and  I  will  see  about  getting  a 
new  one  in  the  spring.  A  little  penny-ante  game 
in  the  evening,  as  I  had  too  much  pep  to  read. 

Nov.  8. — Riding  down  on  the  car  this  morning 
with  Harry  Vickers  and  he  saying  something 
more  about  me  going  into  business  with  him,  but 
I  telling  him  that  while  I  was  sure  that  he  would 
make  a  go  of  it  and  all  that,  at  the  same  time  my 
company  needs  my  services  badly,  explaining  to 
him  that  the  manager  is  not  as  efficient  as  he 
ought  to  be  and  is  rather  a  gay  bird.  Vickers 
saying  no  more  about  his  new  business  after  that, 
as  I  guess  that  he  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
in  fishing  for  me  he  is  shooting  a  little  wild,  and 
that  when  I  decide  to  strike  out  for  myself  it  will 
be  with  some  one  who  can  put  up  better  than 
$100,000  against  my  experience  and  give  me  full 


November  259 

authority  to  run  the  business  the  way  it  should 
be  run.  Home  in  the  evening  to  teach  Conrad  to 
talk,  as  he  now  does  very  well,  and  giving  Pep  a 
bath,  as  he  now  plays  in  the  house  with  the 
children  and  must  be  kept  clean.  Reading  in  a 
magazine  about  how  to  succeed  in  life  and 
thinking  I  will  try  it. 

Nov.  9. — This  morning  at  the  breakfast  table 
Conrad  was  sneaking  spoonfuls  of  his  oatmeal  to 
Pep,  who  had  no  business  being  in  the  dining 
room,  and  Polly  got  two  or  three  clean  spoons  for 
Conrad,  calling  him  down  each  time  and  refusing 
to  let  me  take  Pep  out  of  the  room,  as  she  said  a 
child  should  be  taught  to  obey,  not  robbed  of  a 
chance  to  disobey,  but  encouraged  to  respect 
discipline  and  to  strengthen  its  character  by 
resisting  temptation,  and  one  word  leading  to 
another  till  she  slapped  Conrad's  hand  and  he 
yelled  in  pain,  and  I  saying  something  about 
picking  on  some  one  your  own  size,  or  words  to 
that  effect,  till  we  had  words  and  I  left  home  in 
bad  humor,  which  is  not  good  for  a  man,  as  his 
wife  owes  it  to  him  to  send  him  to  work  in  high 
spirits,  so  he  will  be  able  to  do  his  best  along  with 
men  who  have  not  had  words  before  they  left 
home,  this  being  mentioned  in  the  article  on 
success  that  I  read  last  night.  Discharging  two 
clerks  in  my  department  to-day,  as  they  have 
both  been  loafing  on  me  and  thinking  they  are 
getting  away  with  it.  Not  telling  them  why  I 


260  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

fired  them,  but  merely  saying  that  we  have  to  cut 
down  expenses. 

Nov.  10. — The  chief  coming  into  my  place 
to-day  and  asking  what* it  was  he  heard  about  a 
shake-up  in  my  department  yesterday  in  which 
I  let  a  couple  of  valuable  employees  go,  and  I 
telling  him  a  few  things  about  discipline,  and 
adding  that  somebody  in  the  office  had  to  con- 
sider such  matters  or  everything  would  go  to  pot. 
I  practically  asked  him  whether  he  had  seen 
anything  of  Minnie  since  she  left  the  place,  but 
he  replied  evasively  that  this  need  not  worry 
me,  as  it  was  no  longer  a  matter  of  office  dis- 
cipline. I  told  him  nothing  suited  me  better 
than  to  be  rid  of  the  entire  Lowder  lot. 

Nov.  ii. — Having  a  few  words  with  several 
clerks  again  to-day,  as,  this  being  Armistice  Day, 
most  of  them  stood  around  half  the  day  arguing 
that  it  ought  to  be  a  holiday,  and  two  or  three 
who  were  overseas  saying  that  during  the  war 
everybody  said  that  nothing  would  be  good 
enough  for  the  boys  who  served  overseas,  whereas 
now,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  everybody  seems  to  think 
that  nothing  is  good  enough  for  them.  Thinking 
that  they  almost  told  the  truth,  and  remember- 
ing that  when  the  war  was  going  on  I  used  to  say 
that  any  time  in  the  future  I  would  always  make 
room  in  my  department  for  a  man  who  had  been 
in  service,  but  I  have  several  who  were  not  in 
service,  and  I  am  not  giving  the  former  service 


November  261 

men  any  preference.  Saying  something  about  it 
at  home,  Fred  being  there,  and  he  was  overseas. 
He  saying  that  for  his  part  he  had  never  expected 
anything,  hence  had  not  been  disappointed,  so 
I  feeling  a  little  better  about  it,  and  reading  a 
book  of  facts,  sold  to  Polly  by  a  smooth  talker, 
finding  therein  who  Thor  was  and  the  height  of 
Washington  Monument. 

Nov.  12. — The  weather  chilly  these  days,  but 
Polly  wrapping  the  children  up  well  and  letting 
them  play  outdoors  most  of  the  time,  so  when  I 
reach  home  in  the  evening  they  have  rosy  apple 
cheeks  and  look  100  per  cent,  better  than  when 
we  first  brought  them  here,  showing  what  plenty 
of  sleep,  plenty  of  good  food,  and  a  happy  home, 
such  as  I  have  made  for  my  family,  will  do  for 
children  who  were  having  a  pretty  hard  time  in 
the  world.  Taking  Louise  for  a  walk  in  the  eve- 
ning now,  and  whenever  we  stop  to  talk  to  neigh- 
bors or  meet  friends  in  the  drug  store  or  in  the 
branch  library,  where  I  take  her  to  get  children's 
books  about  fairies  and  animals,  I  always  refer 
to  her  as  my  daughter,  and  we  have  explained  to 
her  that  she  might  as  well  call  herself  Louise 
Blick,  which  she  now  does.  Going  to  the  library 
this  evening  and  the  girl  there  asking  me  if  I  did 
not  wish  to  take  out  one  of  the  books  I  was 
looking  at  while  Louise  was  picking  out  a  book  to 
suit,  but  I  saying  that  I  had  a  book  of  facts  at 
home  which  would  last  me  through  the  winter, 


262  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

and  I  am  not  much  of  a  hand  at  reading  books, 
having  all  I  can  do  to  read  the  papers  and  a 
magazine  or  two. 

Nov.  13. — Pay  day  again  to-day,  but  the  same 
amount  of  pay,  not  that  I  thought  the  chief  was 
going  to  make  good  on  his  promise  before  the  first 
of  the  year,  but  since  he  probably  realizes  by  this 
time  that  I  brought  him  to  his  senses  and  saved 
him  from  a  fatal  error,  I  thought  he  might  revise 
his  ideas  of  gratitude  and  do  what  nearly  any 
reasonable  man  would  do.  A  big  romp  with  the 
children  in  the  evening,  and  Ellen  and  Fred 
staying  with  them  while  Polly  and  I  went  to  the 
theater,  where  we  haven't  been  in  a  coon's  age, 
and  enjoying  the  girls  and  music  and  lights  and 
color.  A  bite  to  eat  and  home. 

Nov.  14. — This  being  a  fine,  mild  day,  probably 
the  last  before  next  spring,  thinking  I  might  do 
a  little  good  fishing,  so  persuading  Polly  to 
remain  away  from  church  once,  as  it  will  not 
hurt  us  any,  but  will  cause  people  to  say  that  we 
are  not  slaves  to  church,  and  she  and  the  children 
and  Pep  and  I  going  up  the  river  road  in  the  bus 
this  morning,  and  I  trying  a  few  places  in  the 
river  which  looked  good,  showing  Conrad  how  to 
cast,  as  I  would  like  for  him  to  grow  up  well 
versed  in  some  outdoor  sport  which  will  take 
him  away  from  the  city  and  along  streams  and 
among  trees,  where  he  will  be  at  peace  with  the 
world  and  enjoying  himself  as  God  intended. 


November  263 

Polly  and  Louise  tramping  along  the  stream  with 
me,  which  was  not  to  my  liking,  as  a  man  should 
fish,  alone  or  with  some  one  who  has  gumption 
enough  not  to  throw  sticks  in  the  water  for 
Pep  to  chase,  but  I  saying  nothing,  pretending 
I  was  having  a  good  time,  as  a  man  should  make 
some  sacrifices  for  his  family,  and  as  long  as 
they  thought  that  I  enjoyed  having  them  along 
it  was  all  right.  Home  late  in  the  afternoon,  tired 
and  hungry  and  a  lot  better  ofF  for  a  day  in  the 
open,  where  a  man  has  real  pleasure,  even  though 
the  fish  are  not  biting. 

Nov.  15. — Out  bright  and  early  this  morning, 
feeling  like  a  boy  after  being  outdoors  all  day 
yesterday,  and  down  to  the  office  ready  to  do 
more  work  than  any  two  men  around  the  place. 
The  chief  in  to  ask  me  whether  I  needed  any- 
body to  take  the  place  of  Minnie  Lowder,  and 
I  giving  him  a  hot  one  to  the  effect  that  her 
absence  meant  nothing  in  my  well-oiled  depart- 
ment, except  that  there  was  a  little  less  gossiping 
done.  He  evidently  thought  that  I  resented  his 
question,  which  I  did,  and  saying  to  me  that  he 
had  always  felt  that  we  ought  to  get  along  better, 
so  I  told  him  that  I  felt  the  same  way,  and  one 
word  led  to  another  until  we  agreed  that  in  the 
future  we  would  make  a  little  more  allowance  for 
each  other's  ideas,  and  have  less  trouble.  I  was 
willing  to  meet  him  halfway  in  spirit,  as  he  means 
well  and  would  be  a  good  fellow  if  he  quit  his  job 


264  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

and  got  one  that  was  cut  down  to  his  size,  so  he 
could  hold  it  without  having  to  worry  himself  half 
to  death.  Home  to  a  good  dinner  and  to  take 
Conrad  and  Pep  for  a  walk. 

Nov.  16. — Snow  flying  again  to-day  and  every- 
body in  the  office  standing  around  looking  at  it 
as  if  there  was  only  one  snow  every  ten  years 
and  a  man  had  to  pay  to  see  it.  I  letting  them 
loaf,  as  a  man  cannot  be  asserting  his  authority 
all  the  time  and  bawling  people  out  so  they  will 
get  to  hate  him  and  loaf  on  the  job  every  time  he 
turns  his  back,  and  get  together  on  some  scheme 
to  lower  the  standing  of  my  department.  Home 
in  the  evening  to  shovel  snow  off  the  walks, 
Conrad  turning  out  to  help  me,  using  a  little 
broom  of  Ellen's  and  working  like  a  man.  You 
can  tell  from  the  way  he  works  that  when  he 
grows  up  he  will  kill  no  time,  but  will  be  at 
something  all  the  time  he  is  awake,  as  a  man 
should  be,  as  I  have  noticed  that  the  more  a  man 
does  the  better  he  feels,  that  being  the  case  with 
me,  and  the  first  clerks  around  my  place  to  get 
sick  when  there  is  an  epidemic  of  colds  in  the 
office  are  the  ones  who  work  least,  this  being  an 
original  discovery  of  mine.  Hearing  Louise 
read  her  lessons  till  bedtime,  which  she  does  very 
well.  She  expects  to  become  a  school-teacher 
and  I  am  encouraging  her  in  her  ambition. 

Nov.  17. — Snow  falling  all  night,  so  I  had  the 
walks  to  shovel  again  this  morning,  noting  that 


November  265 

several  neighbors  had  gone  to  work,  as  I  could 
tell  by  the  tracks  in  the  snow,  without  cleaning 
their  walks,  showing  what  kind  of  people  they 
are,  but  that  making  no  difference  to  me,  as  my 
motto  is  live  and  let  live,  or  let  die,  as  the  case 
may  be.  The  Walkers  over  to  our  house  this 
evening,  and  I  was  tempted  to  say  something 
about  the  way  Mrs.  Walker  tried  to  double-cross 
me  and  how  she  chose  the  wrong  person  for  that 
sort  of  thing,  but  remembering  that  she  was  my 
guest,  so  restraining  myself  and  playing  bridge 
as  if  nothing  had  happened.  I  have  got  to  the 
place  in  the  world  where  I  can  afford  to  have 
people  think  that  I  am  too  broad-minded  and 
busy  to  feel  offended  about  little  things  like  that. 
Mrs.  Walker  is  probably  punished  enough  by  her 
conscience,  and  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  having 
won  out,  though  getting  no  credit  for  it,  so  I  acted 
as  if  I  had  forgotten  the  incident, .which  I  have. 
i&.  Nov.  18. — All  the  snow  melted  to-day  and  I 
was  glad  to  see  it  go,  as  winter  will  come  soon 
enough  without  starting  it  in  November,  even 
before  the  football  season  is  over.  Home  in  the 
evening  to  find  that  Polly  had  ordered  a  sled  for 
the  kids,  other  children  in  the  neighborhood 
having  them,  so  it  was  up  to  me  to  take  them  out 
on  the  sled  before  dinner  and  hunt  for  patches  of 
snow  which  had  withstood  the  sun.  Pulling  the 
sled  along  on  the  grass  beside  the  walks  and 
people  looking  at  me  as  if  to  say,  "He  is  surely  a 


266  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

devoted  father,"  which  is  not  far  from  the  truth. 
Conrad  insisted  on  taking  the  sled  to  bed  with 
him,  and  was  so  determined  that  he  would  eat 
no  dinner,  showing  that  he  has  a  little  temper, 
which  is  a  good  thing.  Finally  agreeing  to  put 
the  sled  on  the  floor  beside  his  bed,  which  was  not 
a  good  compromise,  but  worked  all  right,  as  he 
soon  fell  asleep.  Spending  most  of  the  evening 
putting  my  fishing  tackle  away  for  the  winter,  as 
the  fishing  season  is  over  and  I  have  little  to 
show  for  it  except  a  few  stories  which  I  have  not 
learned  well  enough  to  tell  twice  alike,  but  will 
do  better  next  year. 

Nov.  ig. — Ellen  and  Fred  agreed  to  stay  at  our 
house  this  evening  while  Polly  and  I  went  to  the 
dance,  Polly  inducing  me  to  go.  It  seems  from 
what  Polly  says  that  Ellen  and  Fred  are  saving 
their  money  and  figuring  on  getting  somewhere 
in  the  world,  which  is  a  good  thing,  Fred  prob- 
ably having  found  out  about  how  I  had  to  scrimp 
and  save  when  I  was  his  age,  and  decided  that 
he  would  set  out  to  be  a  man  like  me.  Mrs. 
Stivers,  a  neighbor,  telling  me  at  the  dance  that 
she  had  always  been  interested  in  me  and  was 
eager  to  get  my  opinions  on  various  subjects,  and 
we  having  a  good  time  together,  dancing  three 
times,  and  I  would  have  asked  her  to  dance 
again  if  Polly  had  not  come  around  and  demanded 
a  dance.  Mrs.  Stivers  is  a  bright  woman  and  a 
good  dancer.  I  got  a  lot  of  satisfaction  out  of 


November  267 

finding  out  that  she  has  observed  me  with  interest 
for  seven  years,  showing  that  a  man  may  stand 
much  higher  among  his  neighbors  than  he 
thought,  if  possible.  On  the  way  home  Polly 
saying  that  Mrs.  Stivers  is  a  vamp,  and  I  saying 
that  if  so  it  was  because  she  regarded  me  as 
something  beside  a  pay  check,  and  saying  no 
more,  for  fear  of  offending  her. 

Nov.  20. — Taking  home  a  box  of  candy  for 
Polly  and  a  toy  telephone  for  Conrad  and  a 
story  book  for  Louise,  and  Polly  glad  to  get  the 
candy,  as,  while  I  said  nothing,  she  understood 
that  I  meant  no  harm  by  preferring  Mrs.  Stivers 
yesterday  evening.  This  making  me  feel  better, 
as  when  people  get  our  age  a  man  should  be 
careful  and  not  do  anything  that  would  remind 
his  wife  that  she  is  showing  her  age  more  than 
he  is  and  he  may  get  careless  toward  her.  Work- 
ing around  my  cellar  most  of  the  evening  and 
doing  a  little  carpenter  work,  as  to-day  I  got  a 
hint  about  where  I  might  buy  a  case  of  good 
Bourbon  for  $105,  which  is  a  lot  of  money, but  the 
case  will  last  a  lifetime,  as  I  wish  merely  to  have 
it  on  hand  when  some  one  drops  in  who  expects 
a  drink,  and  if  no  liquor  was  produced  might  go 
around  saying  that  I  was  either  scared  of  the 
law  or  too  tight  to  spend  a  nickel  on  a  friend. 
Saying  nothing  about  it  to  Polly,  figuring  that 
she  will  be  all  right  if  she  knows  nothing  about  it 
till  the  liquor  is  in  the  house,  when  it  will  be  too 


268  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

late  to  say  anything.  Making  a  strong  box  which 
I  can  bury  in  the  coal  pile. 

Nov.  21. — Too  cold  and  wet  to  go  to  church  to- 
day, so,  instead  of  wasting  time  complaining  of 
the  weather,  organizing  a  Sunday-school  class  of 
my  own  this  morning  and  teaching  Conrad  and 
Louise  a  few  things  about  the  Bible  which  are  not 
taught  in  ordinary  Sunday  schools,  but  having 
some  trouble  with  Conrad;  and  finally  I  had  to 
strap  him  to  a  chair,  as  there  is  nothing  like 
teaching  a  child  early  in  life  that  it  must  obey 
superior  authority.  Going  through  King  Solo- 
mon's Proverbs,  and  putting  in  a  few  new  ones, 
so  that  it  was  a  very  profitable  morning  for  the 
children.  There  was  a  little  sun  this  afternoon, 
so  Polly  and  I  taking  the  children  for  a  walk,  I 
pulling  Conrad  in  his  wagon,  which  he  likes 
better  than  anything  he  has.  Afraid  at  first 
that  when  we  passed  people  on  the  street  they 
would  say  to  themselves  that  it  was  strange  we 
were  pulling  a  child  along  the  street  in  a  wagon, 
as  we  look  as  if  we  were  able  to  own  a  car,  but 
thinking  that  they  probably  saw  that  we  were 
doing  it  for  novelty,  and  maybe  it  will  become  the 
fashion  in  this  end  of  town  for  people  to  pull  their 
children  along  in  wagons.  Reading  all  evening. 

Nov.  22. — Herb  Koontz  on  the  car  this  morn- 
ing and  giving  me  a  line  of  talk  about  how  he  and 
his  wife  have  decided  to  get  a  divorce  but  cannot 
agree  on  how  they  will  divide  their  household 


November  269 

goods,  both  wanting  to  keep  the  floor  lamp. 
Telling  Koontz  that  if  he  is  that  kind  of  man  his 
wife  ought  to  be  willing  to  give  the  floor  lamp 
to  him  to  get  rid  of  him,  and  he  saying  that  he  told 
her  the  same  thing,  but  she  could  not  see  it.  The 
chief  is  away  to-day  and  nobody  seems  to  know 
where  he  is,  showing  what  kind  of  executive  he  is 
and  what  would  happen  if  it  was  necessary  to  get 
hold  of  him  quickly.  Home  unusually  early,  know- 
ing that  I  can  trust  "my  subordinates  whether 
their  boss  is  there  or  not.  Telling  Polly  about  the 
Koontz  troubles  and  making  it  clear  that  I  was  not 
interested  in  these  family  squabbles,  Polly  reply- 
ing that  she  had  noticed  this  in  the  Walker  affair. 
Nov.  23. — Who  should  stroll  into  my  office  this 
morning  but  Charley  Quinn,  saying  the  chief 
had  left  him  in  charge  of  the  works  and  asking 
me  how  everything  was  getting  along  in  my 
department,  and  I  told  him,  "All  right,"  feeling 
that  the  chief  had  put  him  in  charge  to  reward 
him  for  long  service  and  not  because  he  really 
has  any  chance  of  becoming  manager  some  day. 
Asking  him  casually  where  the  chief  is,  and  he 
looking  as  if  I  was  joking  and  saying  of  course 
I  knew  that  the  chief  and  Minnie  Lowder  were 
getting  married  on  Thanksgiving  Day.  I  replied 
casually,  oh  yes,  for  it  does  a  man  no  good  to 
have  it  known  that  he  has  been  kept  in  ignorance. 
Of  course  the  chief  is  sore  because  of  the  way  I 
have  given  Minnie  the  razz  and  I  suppose  I  can 


270  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

expect  nothing  but  the  gate  when  he  gets  home. 
Saying  nothing  to  Polly  as  she  would  probably 
worry  over  my  losing  my  position,  women  being 
that  way,  merely  telling  her  that,  after  all,  that 
Lowder  girl  seems  to  have  hooked  the  chief,  she 
pretending  surprise  at  my  being  so  slow  finding 
this  oift.  Hearing  that  Caesar  and  Pep  had  a 
fight  over  a  bone  and  Caesar  narrowly  escaped 
death  by  running  home.  Thinking  that  this  is  a 
world  of  unhappiness  and  needless  cruelty. 

Nov.  24. — An  easy  day  at  the  office,  letting 
things  run  themselves  and  not  worrying  much, 
as  I  have  found  out  that  if  you  put  off  till  to- 
morrow about  half  the  things  that  look  as  if  they 
had  to  be  done  to-day  you  won't  have  to  do  them 
at  all.  Home  in  the  evening  to  find  that  Polly 
has  everything  set  for  a  big  'dinner  to-morrow, 
including  a  nine-pound  turkey.  So  I  went  over 
to  the  drug-store  and  bought  some  candy, 
grape  juice,  etc.,  to  make  the  meal  complete, 
for  it  may  be  the  last  chance  we  have  at  a  square 
meal.  Fred  and  Ellen  are  coming  up  and  we  are 
going  to  have  a  real  dinner.  Walkers  over  at  our 
house  this  evening  to  play  cards.  They  said 
nothing  about  that  dog  of  theirs,  and  neither  did 
I,  as  it  is  bad  enough  to  have  a  coward  dog  with- 
out having  people  remind  you  of  it  all  the  time, 
so  I  merely  remarking  that  I  had  heard  from 
various  sources  that  Caesar  is  developing  into 
quite  a  runner  and  must  have  some  greyhound 


November  271 

in  him.  Mrs.  Walker  and  I  beating  Polly  and  old 
man  Walker  at  bridge,  which  was  not  hard  to  do, 
as,  although  we  held  the  cards,  we  played  them 
right,  and  I  will  say  that  Janet  is  good,  though  I'd 
as  soon  she  had  less  to  say  about  my  style  of  play, 
which  is  good.  To  bed  resolved  not  to  worry 
about  the  office,  as  we  have  only  one  life  to  live. 
Nov.  25. — I  suppose  that  by  this  time  the  chief 
and  Minnie  are  bound  somewhere  on  their 
wedding  journey,  although  I  would  not  be  sur- 
prised if  she  got  her  senses  at  the  last  minute  and 
deserted  him  at  the  altar,  as  they  used  to  say  in 
books.  All  to  church  to-day  and  hearing  a  fine 
sermon  on  how  grateful  we  should  be  for  all 
blessings,  which,  in  view  of  the  big  dinner  we 
were  all  thinking  about,  made  quite  a  hit.  Our 
preacher  gets  better  all  the  time.  His  policy  is 
that  a  preacher  should  serve  the  church  so  as  to 
have  no  discontent  on  account  of  his  sermons. 
He  believes  that  the  best  preacher  is  the  preacher 
who  is  kept  in  one  church  the  longest,  and  as  far 
as  I  can  see  he  will  be  with  us  as  long  as  he  is  able 
to  climb  into  the  pulpit.  Dinner  at  three  o'clock, 
and  we  ate  and  talked  for  an  hour.  Fred  and  I 
loafing  in  luxury  and  ease  in  front  of  the  fire- 
place till  Polly  and  Ellen  finished  in  the  kitchen, 
then  trying  to  get  up  a  card  game,  but  they  too 
tired,  so  telling  Fred  the  story  of  my  life,  which 
he  enjoyed  up  to  the  point  where  I  quit  school, 
when  Ellen  took  him  home. 


272  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Nov.  26. — Carder  in  to  my  place  this  morning 
and  telling  me  that  the  wedding  was  a  big  success, 
as  the  four  of  them  went  to  the  church  in  a  taxi, 
had  the  wedding,  ate  dinner  at  a  hotel  at  the 
chief's  expense,  and  then  the  chief  and  Minnie 
went  to  the  train  and  departed  on  their  honey- 
moon. I  said  something  about  it  being  funny  that 
Minnie  did  not  go  back  to  her  old  home  to  be 
married,  but  Carder  said  I  would  not  think  it 
was  funny  if  I  knew  how  little  the  Lowder  girls 
were  appreciated  in  their  home  town.  He  also 
told  me  they  are  making  a  collection  for  a  gold- 
mounted  cane  for  the  chief,  when  he  comes  back, 
which  in  my  opinion  should  have  been  a  crutch, 
but  I  said  nothing  about  that,  as  I  have  an  idea 
that  Carder  tells  the  chief  everything  he  hears, 
and  parted  with  a  ten,  as  what  else  can  a  man  do? 
The  people  in  my  place  are  buying  a  pair  of  silver 
candlesticks  for  Minnie,  so  as  far  as  I  can  see  the 
newlyweds  have  no  reason  to  complain  of  the 
way  we  shelled  out  for  them.  Looking  around  for 
a  girl  to  fill  Minnie's  place,  and  glad  there  are  no 
more  Lowders  to  inherit  the  job.  Loafing  all 
evening,  just  thinking. 

Nov.  27. — My  pay  the  same  to-day  as  last 
January,  which  is  all  right  with  me,  as  I  suppose 
I  cannot  hope  for  the  promised  raise  even  in 
January  after  the  trouble  the  chief  and  I  have 
had.  I  decided  to  quit  figuring  every  Saturday 
on  where  I  stand,  as  it  looks  tight  in  a  man  who 


November  273 

has  reached  my  place  in  life  and  can  afford  to 
spend  his  money  with  some  care  and  trust  to 
luck  to  see  him  through.  I  will  say,  though, 
going  on  record  here,  that  I  am  not  as  well  fixed 
as  I  thought  I  would  be,  but,  of  course,  a  man  can- 
not look  ahead  and  see  the  unexpected  expenses 
that  will  come  up,  such  as  weddings.  Maybe 
if  he  could  he  would  give  up  the  ghost.  Riding 
home  on  the  car  with  Bill  Hines  and  he  gave  me 
a  line  of  bunk  about  the  advantages  of  a  man 
breaking  away  from  a  job  and  striking  out  for 
himself.  I  said  that  it  sounded  all  right  if  a 
man  didn't  collect  from  his  friends  at  the  outset, 
referring  to  the  time  that  Hines  unloaded  all 
that  fake  oil  stock,  but  he  failed  to  get  the  point, 
as  he  had  no  comeback.  I  notice  that  people 
are  getting  so  they  leave  me  alone  unless  they 
have  a  pretty  clear  record. 

Nov.  28. — The  old  bus  standing  in  the  garage 
with  the  radiator  drained,  so  instead  of  going  to 
church  I  turned  out  early  and  put  her  up  for  the 
winter,  jacking  her  up  and  shoving  some  blocks 
under  her,  taking  the  tires  ofF,  letting  half  the 
air  out  of  them,  washing  them,  wrapping  them  in 
newspapers,  and  putting  them  in  the  cellar  high 
and  dry.  To-morrow  I  will  have  the  battery 
man  come  and  take  the  battery  down  to  his 
place  and  store  it  for  the  winter,  and  I  will  have 
one  less  worry  off  my  mind,  as  from  the  way  the 
old  battleship  ran  here  lately  she  is  likely  to 


274  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

fall  apart  one  of  these  days.  But  I  got  through 
the  season  with  it,  as  much  as  I  thought  last 
spring  that  I  would  have  to  buy  a  new  one 
before  the  summer  was  half  over.  As  things 
look  now,  I  shall  have  to  make  it  do  still  another 
season  or  even  sell  it  entirely.  Not  that  I  am 
worrying,  for  I  only  did  my  duty.  After  a  day's 
hard  work  in  overalls,  spending  the  evening  loaf- 
ing, as  a  man  should  on  Sunday,  the  day  of  rest. 
Nov.  29. — Getting  my  own  breakfast  this 
morning,  as  the  children  both  have  bad  colds  and 
Polly  made  them  stay  in  bed  till  the  house  was 
well  warmed,  so  I  telling  her  to  look  after  them 
and  pay  no  attention  to  me,  as  I  am  able  to  get 
my  breakfast,  as  a  man  should  be,  and  not  a 
slave  to  household  routine.  Polly  thinking  that 
the  children  have  the  whooping  cough,  as  there 
is  a  lot  of  it  in  the  neighborhood,  but  I  laughed  at 
such  a  guess,  as  I  figure  that  children  who  are 
well  and  warmly  dressed  and  have  their  food  and 
exercise  looked  after  will  not  get  any  kind  of 
cough,  much  less  whooping  cough,  which  is  not 
much  of  a  disease,  anyhow,  and  nothing  to 
worry  about.  Getting  some  toast  and  coffee, 
which  is  not  enough,  but  a  man  has  to  put  up 
with  anything  when  he  has  his  wife's  relatives' 
children  to  bring  up  and  worry  about  in  addition 
to  his  own  troubles  brought  on  by  being  over- 
zealous  in  the  company's  interests.  Taking 
things  easy  at  the  office,  because  if  we  do  too 


November  275 

much  work  the  chief  is  likely  to  get  the  idea  that 
he  is  not  needed  around  the  place  and  feel  that 
he  made  a  mistake  in  going  on  a  honeymoon  and 
letting  us  find  out  that  he  is  merely  a  figurehead, 
as  you  might  say. 

Nov.  30. — The  children  coughing  some  last 
night,  so  Polly  had  the  doctor  for  them  to-day 
and  he  said  they  might  or  might  not  have  the 
whooping  cough,  which  is  what  I  call  a  conser- 
vative opinion  and  a  great  credit  to  the  medical 
profession.  Going  home  on  the  car  this  evening 
an  elderly  woman  sat  down  beside  me  and  looked 
as  if  she  knew  something  about  children,  so  I 
asked  her  what  were  the  symptoms  of  whooping 
cough,  and  she  said  a  whoop,  which  the  children 
have  not  got,  so  that  matter  is  settled  to  my 
satisfaction,  yet  I  must  admit  that  they  cough 
a  good  deal  and  little  Conrad  has  great  trouble 
with  his  meals  after  he  eats  them,  and  if  he  keeps 
it  up  he  will  starve  to  death.  Polly  says  the 
children  cough  just  the  way  Ellen  did  when  she 
had  the  whooping  cough,  which  I  had  forgotten 
about,  as  I  guess  she  had  a  mild  case,  but  I 
believe  in  taking  the  optimistic  view  of  such 
things  and  argued  that  it  must  be  some  new 
disease  and  we  had  better  get  a  new  doctor. 
Calling  up  a  few  neighbors  about  a  card  game, 
but  having  no  luck,  as  they  seem  to  think  we  have 
whooping  cough  and  they  will  track  it  home. 


December 

Dec.  I. — The  children  coughed  a  good  deal 
last  night  and  Polly  was  up  with  them  several 
times^  not  getting  the  sleep  she  should  have, 
which  is  one  of  the  drawbacks  to  being  a  woman, 
having  to  worry  about  children  and  be  up  and 
down  with  them  in  the  night  if  they  are  sick. 
For  my  part,  I  never  lost  any  sleep  when  Ellen 
was  a  baby,  as  she  was  seldom  awake  in  the 
night,  and  when  she  was  I  never  heard  about 
it  till  the  next  day,  when  Polly  might  mention  it, 
as  if  proud  to  be  able  to  get  up  in  the  night  and 
do  something  for  her  child.  A  man  who  has  to 
Worry  about  keeping  forty  people  busy  in  his 
department  needs  all  the  sleep  he  can  get.  Things 
going  all  right  at  the  office.  You  would  never 
know  the  chief  is  away,  except  that  it  seems 
strange  to  see  everyone  in  good  humor,  for  we 
now  have  a  sort  of  unwritten  agreement  to  do  all 
we  can  to  make  the  place  run  smoothly  for 
Charley  Quinn,  as  he  is  probably  at  the  peak  of 
his  career  and  from  now  on  will  occupy  a  second- 
ary position  in  life.  I  have  a  particular  reason 
for  taking  things  easy,  as  I  have  no  great  interest 

276 


December  277 

in  the  future  of  a  concern  which  has  for  a  chief  a 
vindictive  man  who  rewards  good  work  with  ill 
treatment. 

Dec.  2. — The  doctor  coming  again  to-day  to 
see  the  children,  and  from  what  he  says  I  guess 
they  have  the  whooping  cough  all  right,  as  he 
telephoned  to  the  Board  of  Health  and  a  man 
came  out  and  nailed  a  sign  on  the  door  saying 
there  was  whooping  cough  within,  $10  to  $50 
penalty  for  removing  this  sign.  The  man  telling 
Polly  to  be  careful,  as  he  just  came  from  taking 
the  sign  down  at  a  house  where  a  baby  just 
Conrad's  age  died  of  whooping  cough,  this  up- 
setting Polly  so  that  after  she  told  me  about  it  I 
thought  some  of  going  before  the  board  and 
getting  them  to  fire  an  employee  like  that,  but 
decided  not  to  do  anything  so  rash,  for  the  man 
is  probably  good  for  nothing  but  tacking  signs  on 
people's  doors,  and  if  the  board  fired  him  they 
would  get  another  like  him  for  the  money.  The 
children  coughing  a  good  deal,  and  Conrad 
having  more  trouble  with  his  meals,  but  game 
about  it  and  grinning  after  he  coughs,  as  if  he  is 
glad  it  is  over  till  the  next  time,  showing  that  I 
have  brought  him  up  right  and  done  my  best  to 
overcome  the  inferior  training  of  his  earlier  life. 

Dec.  J. — Getting  a  wish-you-were-here  card 
from  the  chief,  who  is  in  Florida,  showing  that 
while  he  was  too  sore  to  write  me  a  letter  he 
probably  got  to  worrying  about  how  things  were 


278  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

going  back  home  here  at  the  works  and  thought 
he  had  better  make  himself  solid  with  a  few  of  the 
more  important  department  heads  around  the 
place,  as  he  is  probably  shrewd  enough  to  know 
that  they  are  finding  out  how  smooth  the  place 
runs  without  him  and  is  afraid  he  will  have  no 
discipline  when  he  gets  back.  Ellen  and  Fred 
staying  with  the  children  while  we  went  to  the 
dance,  where  we'd  have  had  a  good  time  if  we 
had  not  been  worrying  about  my  wife's  sister's 
sickly  children,  but  a  man  cannot  have  every- 
thing his  way  in  this  world,  so  I  made  no  com- 
plaint, as  I  am  not  that  kind,  merely  saying  to 
Polly  that  it  might  be  worse  if  we  did  not  have 
Ellen  and  Fred  handy  to  help  us  take  care  of 
them.  Dancing  with  a  woman  named  Mrs. 
Harmont  or  something  like  that,  who  could  not 
keep  away  from  my  feet,  and  not  enjoying  the 
evening  very  much,  as  a  man  will  worry  about 
his  sick  children,  even  though  he  has  sufficient 
strength  of  character  not  to  worry  about  his 
impending  discharge  from  a  company  to  which 
he  has  given  his  best  years. 

Dec.  4. — Home  early  this  afternoon  with 
presents  for  the  children,  as  between  the  snow 
and  cold  wind  outdoors  and  their  whooping 
cough,  they  are  shut  in  all  the  time  and  keep 
Polly  busy  looking  for  new  ways  of  amusing 
them.  After  I  reach  home  they  get  along  all 
right,  as  I  am  resourceful  and  merely  have  to 


December  279 

draw  on  my  large  stock  of  stories  and  ideas  to 
keep  them  amused.  Besides,  it  is  then  almost 
time  for  them  to  go  to  bed,  and  they  don't  have 
time  to  get  tired  of  me  as  they  do  of  Polly.  That 
girl  Etta  who  used  to  hang  around  here  is  back  in 
school  again,  but  comes  in  every  afternoon  for  an 
hour  or  two,  and  Polly  has  a  colored  woman  in 
three  afternoons  a  week,  so  I  guess  she  is  not 
faring  so  badly,  especially  if  she  stops  to  think 
what  might  have  happened  if  she  had  married  a 
husband  like  some  of  the  men  in  this  neighbor- 
hood, who  are  hardly  ever  at  home  except  to 
sleep,  and  whose  children  hardly  know  them. 
Polly  telling  me  that  the  children  are  awake  now 
half  a  dozen  times  in  the  night,  and  that  Conrad 
wakens  up  and  cries  for  me,  so  I  deciding  to 
move  his  crib  in  beside  my  bed  and  take  care  of 
him  at  night  when  he  coughs. 

Dec.  5. — Conrad  coughing  about  every  half 
hour  last  night  and  I  thought  two  or  three  times 
that  he  would  choke  to  death,  but  I  held  his 
hand  and  told  him  to  be  a  good  sport,  and  he 
recovered  each  time,  showing  what  a  little  en- 
couragement will  do  for  a  baby  that  has  been 
brought  up  lately  in  the  proper  atmosphere  and 
got  the  habit  of  looking  at  the  bright  side  of 
things.  He  did  not  cry  for  me,  however,  but 
cried  for  Polly,  as  naturally  he  would,  being  her 
own  flesh  and  blood,  and  no  relation  of  mine 
except  by  marriage  and  because  I  agreed  to 


280  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

bring  him  up  after  his  relatives  acted  as  if  they 
did  not  care  for  him.  Nothing  said  about 
church  this  morning,  but  all  stayed  at  home  and 
I  took  care  of  the  children,  reading  to  them  from 
the  Bible  and  making  them  sit  still  except  when 
they  had  to  cough,  as  children  should  be  dis- 
ciplined young,  even  though  Polly  and  I  have 
words  about  how  young  to  make  them  respect 
authority.  Several  neighbors  reporting  other 
cases  of  whooping  cough  in  the  neighborhood, 
probably  due  to  parental  neglect  of  children. 

Dec.  6. — Taking  care  of  Conrad  again  last 
night,  and  when  he  brightened  up  about  two 
o'clock  this  morning  and  wanted  to  play  I  got 
his  basket  of  toys  and  we  were  settled  for  a  good 
time  when  Polly  came  in  and  laid  down  the  law, 
saying  that  I  was  teaching  him  bad  habits  and 
he  would  want  to  put  on  the  same  stunt  every 
night,  so  I  saying  all  right;  but  after  she  went  to 
sleep  I  found  that  Conrad  was  still  awake  and  I 
played  with  him  for  about  half  an  hour,  as  in  such 
cases  a  man  should  humor  a  woman  and  not  try 
to  argue  with  her  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  Not 
going  to  work  to-day,  as  I  was  up  most  of  the 
night  and  decided  to  sleep  this  morning,  merely 
telephoning  to  the  office  that  I  was  not  feeling 
well  and  telling  them  to  go  ahead  as  if  I  were 
there.  Intending  to  take  care  of  the  children  in 
the  afternoon  after  I  took  a  little  nap,  but  Polly 
forgot  to  call  me  and  it  was  nearly  dinner  time 


December  281 

when  I  wakened,  and  Conrad  was  in  bed  for  the 
night.  Having  a  few  neighbors  in  for  a  little 
game,  losing  $3.80,  as  Herb  Koontz  had  all  the 
luck,  that  being  the  only  way  he  can  win  at 
penny  ante,  as  he  gets  sore  when  losing. 

Dec,  7. — Conrad  putting  in  another  bad  night, 
but  I  was  up  with  him  every  time  he  coughed  and 
took  the  best  of  care  of  him,  as  it  is  by  such 
devoted  care  that  many  people  survive  an 
illness  which  might  otherwise  be  fatal.  He 
wanted  to  play  again,  but  I  remembered  what 
Polly  said  about  him  getting  the  habit,  and  I 
would  not  play  with  him,  although  he  cried 
pretty  hard,  and  finally  Polly  came  in  to  see  what 
was  the  matter  with  him,  and  I  having  a  few 
words  to  say  about  not  running  to  a  baby  every 
time  it  cries,  but  letting  it  know  that  it  must 
stick  to  its  schedule.  Going  to  work  to-day,  but 
taking  things  easy,  as  a  man  who  has  to  spend  his 
nights  taking  care  of  his  wife's  relatives'  children 
should  not  be  expected  to  set  the  world  on  fire 
during  the  day.  A  heavy  snow  to-day,  remind- 
ing people  that  Christmas  will  soon  be  here,  and 
the  papers  full  of  advice  to  shop  early,  which  a 
lot  of  people  swallow  whole,  as  if  it  wasn't  an 
advertising  campaign.  Changing  the  children's 
medicine,  but  for  my  part  I  agree  with  the  doctor 
that  no  medicine  will  cure  whooping  cough,  but 
may  help  some.  Reading  a  magazine  all  evening. 

Dec.    8. — The    children    coughing    much    less 


282  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

last  night,  and  I  am  beginning  to  believe  that  I 
was  right  in  the  first  place  when  I  said  that  they 
did  not  have  whooping  cough  at  all,  but,  even 
so,  we  might  as  well  go  ahead  and  admit  that 
they  have  it,  for  the  sign  is  on  the  door  and  we 
get  all  the  blame  for  it,  anyhow.  Having  a  few 
words  with  Charley  Quinn  this  morning  when  I 
was  reading  the  paper  at  the  office  and  a  couple 
of  dumb  clerks  were  waiting  for  me  to  make 
decisions  for  them  which  they  should  have  made 
themselves.  Charley  is  all  right  within  his  limits, 
but  when  he  tries  to  hint  to  me  that  it  is  bad  for 
discipline  to  be  reading  a  newspaper  half  the 
morning  he  is  out  of  his  depth  and  probably 
thinking  how  soon  his  department  will  go  to 
pieces  if  he  did  such  a  thing.  The  work  in  my 
place  is  falling  behind  a  little,  but  I  will  catch  up 
before  the  holidays,  when  it  is  next  to  impossible 
to  get  any  work  out  of  my  force,  anyhow.  Out 
to  lunch  with  Fred  to-day  and  he  telling  me  that 
he  and  Ellen  are  out  of  debt — forgetting  the  $50 
I  lent  to  them  last  summer,  I  guess — and  they 
feel  a  lot  better  and  are  saving  money  to  buy 
a  home. 

Dec.  9. — A  letter  to-day  from  Al  Jackson  in 
California  saying  that  he  had  a  bad  smash-up 
with  his  car,  costing  him  nearly  $500  to  make  it 
right,  so  he  decided  to  sell  it  and  come  home  by 
train  as  soon  as  winter  is  over.  He  also  said  he 
is  in  with  a  good  bunch  out  there  and  likely  to 


December  283 

make  a  lot  of  money  this  year,  and  sold  his  car 
partly  to  get  capital  to  put  into  a  little  deal  he 
has  on  his  hands.  Showing  the  letter  to  Polly  in 
the  evening  and  she  saying  that  it  is  just  like  Al 
to  make  $50,000  out  there  this  winter,  having 
nothing  to  do  but  look  for  good  investments 
and  investigate  them  thoroughly  before  risking 
anything.  Polly  asking  about  how  much  money 
we  can  afford  to  spend  for  Christmas,  and  she 
and  I  having  a  few  words  about  blowing  a  lot  of 
money  on  gifts  that  are  no  use  to  anyone,  but 
I  saying  finally  that  a  hundred  dollars  ought  to 
cover  everything,  as  I  intend  to  give  nothing  at 
all,  but  will  economize,  as  I  do  not  know  very 
much  about  the  future  and  cannot  be  squander- 
ing money  on  a  lot  of  Christmas  presents.  But 
the  children  are  shut  in  and  we'll  have  to  spend 
maybe  $6  on  them. 

Dec.  10. — Bob  Pence's  wife  blowing  in  at  our 
place  to-day  without  a  word  of  warning,  having, 
I  guess,  heard  from  Polly  that  the  children  have 
whooping  cough  and  deciding  that  the  least  some 
one  down  at  Oakcastle  could  do  was  to  come  up 
and  see  if  they  are  getting  proper  care.  After 
she  saw  how  sick  they  are  and  heard  from  Polly 
about  how  I  take  care  of  them  at  night,  her 
heart  was  a  little  softer  and  she  insisted  upon 
sending  Polly  and  me  to  a  show  to  get  a  little 
relief,  while  she  stayed  at  home  and  took  care 
of  the  children.  At  first  I  held  out,  being  tactful 


284  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

about  it,  merely  saying  in  a  sort  of  offhand  way 
that  the  children  required  something  more  than 
mere  service  when  coughing  violently,  something 
in  the  nature  of  an  affectionate  pat  on  the  back, 
but  Polly  assured  me  that  they  would  get  along 
all  right,  so  we  went  to  the  show  and  had  a 
fairly  good  time,  although  worried  about  the 
children,  and  all  the  more  worried  when  we  got 
home  and  found  Bob's  wife  sound  asleep  in  front 
of  the  living-room  fire,  where  she  had  probably 
been  since  we  left  the  house,  so  saying  something 
about  the  need  of  a  sense  of  responsibility  and 
going  to  bed. 

Dec.  n. — Pay  day,  and  I  spending  most  of  the 
morning  figuring  that  if  I  buy  no  Christmas 
presents  and  tell  all  my  friends  and  relatives  that 
I  do  not  expect  any,  and  we  spend  only  about 
$6  or  $8  on  the  children,  I  may  be  able  to  get  off 
at  the  $100  which  I  promised  Polly  in  a  rash 
moment.  That  will  buy  something  nice  for  her 
and  Ellen andleave  a  little  for  her  to  spend  on  the 
house,  so  that  matter  is  settled.  Finding  that 
I  am  taking  on  a  little  weight,  which  is  all  right, 
as  I  notice  that  most  prosperous  men  have  a 
little  fat  on  them,  and  it  will  never  do  not  to  look 
prosperous,  no  matter  what  happens.  It  will 
do  me  no  harm  to  have  people  say  that  I  look 
prosperous,  which  will  be  the  truth,  as  although 
I  have  not  made  a  million  dollars,  I  have  put  by 
a  little  for  a  rainy  day  and  treated  my  family 


December  285 

right.  Home  early  with  some  fairy  tales  for 
Louise  and  a  box  of  blocks  for  Conrad  to  throw 
around  the  house.  Playing  with  the  children  and 
in  the  evening  down  to  Herb  Koontz's  to  play 
cards  to  celebrate  his  wife  being  away  till  after 
the  first  of  the  year,  and  staying  a  little  late. 

Dec.  12. — Going  to  church  alone  to-day,  as 
it  does  a  man  no  harm  to  have  people  say  that, 
although  his  family  is  stricken  with  a  dread 
disease  and  he  has  many  calls  upon  his  time, 
he  is  steadfast  in  his  devotions  and  keeps  up  his 
family's  reputation  for  churchgoing  and  right 
living.  The  preacher  talking  some  about  the 
family  being  the  cornerstone  of  society,  and  I 
could  not  help  looking  around  and  noticing  the 
number  of  people  who  looked  at  me,  as  the 
preacher  himself  did  two  or  three  times.  Only 
about  twenty  people  at  church,  most  of  the 
members  being  held  up  by  the  heavy  snowstorm, 
I  suppose,  being  slaves  to  the  weather  and  not 
knowing  that  the  worse  the  weather  the  better  a 
man  feels  when  he  goes  to  church  and  does  the 
right  thing.  Home  to  a  good  dinner,  and  when 
things  got  a  little  dull  in  the  afternoon  I  played 
hide-and-seek  with  the  children,  Conrad  having 
the  time  of  his  life  when  he  got  on  to  the  game 
and  Bob's  wife  acting  as  if  shocked.  Taking  her 
to  the  train  at  seven  this  evening  and  glad  she 
is  gone,  she  being  more  trouble  than  one  of  the 
children. 


286  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

Dec.  13. — Well,  the  chief  showed  up  to-day 
without  any  warning  whatever,  dropping  into 
my  place  while  I  was  reading  the  paper,  and 
saying  that  things  in  my  department  seemed  to 
be  getting  along  all  right  without  much  executive 
work.  I  said  that  I  was  merely  looking  at  the 
paper  to  see  how  the  weather  in  Florida  was, 
where  some  people  are  lucky  enough  to  be  able  to 
go  at  this  time  of  year.  This  getting  his  goat, 
as  he  had  no  more  to  say  along  that  line,  but  sat 
on  my  desk  and  talked  for  an  hour  about  catching 
fifty-pound  fish  down  there,  probably  with  the 
aid  of  a  guide  who  showed  him  where  the  fish 
were  and  how  to  catch  them,  and  them  pulled 
in  for  him.  He  said  that  he  wanted  to  have  a 
talk  with  me  one  of  these  days  when  he  got  into 
running  again.  I  said  all  right,  showing  that 
I  am  a  good  sport  and  can  take  what  is  coming 
to  me  without  squalling.  I  asked  him  about 
Minnie,  and  he  said  she  was  as  happy  as  a  lark, 
so  I  suppose  their  marriage  may  turn  out  all 
right,  after  all,  though  if  it  does  Minnie  will 
deserve  all  the  credit  for  it.  After  the  chief  got 
through  bothering  me  I  settled  down  to  work,  as 
things  in  my  department  are  a  little  behind.  I 
^bawled  out  a  few  of  the  clerks  and  got  things 
going  all  right  again,  as  I  am  the  man  that  gets 
the  work  done  around  our  place,  and  they  all 
know  it. 

Dec.  14. — The  children  still  coughing  a  good 


December  287 

deal,  and  from  what  the  doctor  says  they  will 
cough  nearly  all  winter,  if  you  can  believe  what 
he  says,  which  may  or  may  not  be  true,  depending 
on  whether  they  have  the  whooping  cough,  as  I 
am  inclined  to  doubt,  although  they  do  cough  and 
whoop  and  have  difficultieswith  their  meals.  Who 
should  blow  into  the  office  to-day  but  those  two 
Lowder  girls,  looking  like  a  million  dollars  apiece. 
They  wanted  to  know  if  I  could  find  a  place  for  a 
girl  friend  of  theirs  from  their  home  town,  and 
I  said  I  could  manage  it,  feeling  that  the  chief 
had  probably  sent  them  to  me.  Those  two  girls 
have  certainly  stepped  up  in  the  world  since  they 
struck  this  town,  one  with  the  manners  of  a  wild 
man,  running  away  from  our  house  after  we  had 
befriended  her,  and  the  other  with  a  stupid  look 
that  should  have  queered  her  anywhere,  and  they 
have  me  to  thank  for  getting  good  husbands 
for  them,  as  it  was  probably  my  opposition  to 
Minnie's  marriage  to  the  chief  that  made  her  do 
it,  as  she  is  stubborn.  Telling  Polly  about  it 
and  she  saying  those  girls  are  no  fools,  which  is 
true. 

Dec.  15. — The  children  pretty  sick  again  last 
night,  and  I  worrying  a  good  deal  about  them. 
They  get  along  all  right  in  the  daytime,  but 
cough  hard  when  they  go  to  bed,  as  I  guess  the 
night  air  is  not  good  for  them,  although  I  keep 
the  furnace  roaring  and  the  house  hot,  so  no  one 
can  say  that  we  do  not  take  the  best  of  care  of 


288  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

them.  I  still  take  care  of  Conrad  at  night,  as  I 
believe  that  when  a  man  marries  a  woman  for 
better  or  worse  he  runs  a  chance  of  having 
trouble  with  her  relatives,  and  if  the  trouble 
comes  he  should  make  the  most  of  it,  and  not 
grumble,  but  now  and  then  taking  pains  to  let 
his  wife  know  that  he  is  wise  to  the  situation 
and  deserves  some-credit  for  his  sacrifice.  Read- 
ing in  a  magazine  about  how  to  make  a  success 
of  life  and  finding  that  pep  is  the  best  policy, 
something  I  could  have  told  the  author  of  that 
article  long  before  he  was  born.  Ellen  and  Fred 
up  to  our  house,  and  very  welcome,  as  the  neigh- 
bors are  afraid  of  the  whooping-cough  sign  on  our 
door,  which  deprives  us  of  their  company.  Mrs. 
Walker  afraid,  too,  as  she  never  had  it. 

Dec.  16. — A  big  snowfall  last  night,  so  that 
I  had  to  get  out  early  this  morning  and  dig  the 
walks  out,  but  that  not  bothering  me  much,  as, 
since  my  wife's  relatives  have  the  whooping 
cough,  I  am  used  to  being  up  all  hours  of  the 
night  and  am  not  bothered  by  disturbance  of 
my  sleep,  which  would  drive  an  ordinary  man 
from  home.  At  the  office  to  find  a  very  con- 
fidential letter  from  Al  Jackson  saying  that,  to 
tell  the  truth,  he  is  nearly  broke  and  also  the 
people  who  took  his  house  have  wired  that  they 
will  give  it  up  the  first  of  the  year,  so  he  is  coming 
home,  and  needs  a  little  money  to  see  him  through, 
and  could  I  send  him  $100.  I  spent  most  of  the 


December  289 

morning  writing  him  a  long  letter  of  ad  vice,  telling 
him  that  I  would  see  him  through  for  the  sake 
of  his  family,  but  hereafter  I  expected  him  to 
use  the  advice  of  his  friends  in  financial  matters 
and  not  make  any  more  money  until  he  had 
learned  to  keep  it.  Showing  the  letter  to  Polly 
in  the  evening,  and  she  agreeing  that  perhaps  I 
was  right  in  saying  it  was  all  luck  in  Al's  case, 
showing  that  she  is  getting  some  respect  for 
my  judgment. 

Dec.  77. —  Working  hard  at  my  place  all  day 
and  hinting  to  the  chief  that  I  am  still  listening 
to  a  few  propositions  about  going  into  business 
for  myself  soon,  but  he  changing  the  subject  and 
probably  half  afraid  to  put  his  personal  grudge 
into  effect.  The  children  doing  better  to-day, 
but  when  it  came  to  going  to  the  dance  to-night 
Polly  and  I  held  out,  thinking  that  it  would  not 
look  right  for  us  to  be  dancing  around,  carefree 
and  happy^,  when  the  children  are  stricken  with 
a  serious  malady,  as  they  are,  so  instead  of  going 
to  the  dance  we  asked  Ellen  and  Fred  up  to  the 
house  to  play  bridge,  and  things  would  have  gone 
all  right  if  that  bootlegger  I  left  an  order  with 
several  weeks  ago  had  not  come  to  the  back  door 
with  the  liquor.  Polly  answered  the  door  and 
called  me,  and  I  had  to  put  up  a  bluff  about  not 
knowing  the  man  at  all  and  saying  that  some  of 
my  friends  must  have  hatched  a  scheme  to 
embarrass  me,  and  he  started  to  argue,  but 


290  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

evidently  saw  that  I  was  in  a  tight  place  and  left 
the  house  without  raising  a  rumpus,  as  I  expected, 
so  I  suppose  I  am  on  the  bootleggers'  blacklist, 
which  does  me  no  good. 

Dec.  18. — With  Christmas  one  week  away  it 
looks  to  me  as  if  the  people  have  gone  crazy  over 
Christmas  presents,  as  when  I  was  in  the  shopping 
district  this  afternoon  buying  a  dozen  pairs  of 
socks  I  could  hardly  get  through  the  crowds. 
Home  early  to  take  care  of  the  children  while 
Polly  and  Ellen  went  shopping,  and  having  a 
few  words  with  them  about  the  folly  of  Christmas 
presents,  as  we  are  broke  and  cannot  afford  to 
waste  money  that  way;  but  they  went  ahead, 
saying  they  were  in  a  hurry.  I  suppose  that 
because  I  managed  to  scrape  together  $100  to 
send  to  Al  Jackson,  Polly  thinks  I  am  holding 
out  on  her  and  she  will  put  a  bulge  in  the  charge 
accounts.  When  Polly  and  Ellen  got  home  they 
were  all  in,  so  I  did  the  right  thing  by  getting  a 
bite  to  eat,  the  same  being  scrambled  eggs,  toast, 
and  coffee,  with  some  oatmeal  which  I  found  in 
the  kitchen  for  the  children.  It  is  no  trouble 
at  all  to  cook  and  run  a  house,  and  I  would  have 
washed  the  dishes,  too,  but  Fred  insisted  on  doing 
that,  and  I  made  no  objection,  as  it  was  good 
experience  for  him.  Ellen  and  Fred  back  home 
early  and  I  reading  my  book  of  facts. 

Dec.  19. — Another  snowstorm  last  night  and 
I  was  the  first  one  in  my  end  of  town  to  have 


December  291 

my  walks  clean,  setting  an  example  of  civic 
pride,  as  a  man  should  who  is  a  man  of  some 
prominence  in  his  end  of  town.  Thinking  of 
going  to  church,  but  so  many  people  failed  to 
clean  their  walks  that  I  decided  not  to  risk  wet 
feet  and  maybe  a  cold  church,  and  I  stayed  at 
home,  as  a  man  who  works  indoors  all  the  time 
should  not  take  too  many  chances  with  his 
health,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  churchgoing 
is  largely  a  matter  of  habit  and  a  man  should 
not  be  a  slave  to  any  habit.  Playing  big  bear 
with  Conrad  until  he  laughed  so  hard  that  he 
began  to  cough  and  I  had  to  let  up,  although  it 
seems  a  crime  that  a  man  should  not  be  allowed 
to  exercise  his  talent  for  amusing  people.  In  the 
afternoon  making  Pep  play,  too,  as  he  is  getting 
lazy  and  fat  from  loafing  in  front  of  the  living- 
room  fire  too  much  and  not  getting  to  play 
outdoors  with  the  children.  Getting  my  tackle 
out  and  looking  it  over  and  seeing  that  I  need  a 
larger  tackle  box,  so  thinking  I  will  buy  myself 
one  for  Christmas. 

Dec.  20. — Walker  on  the  car  this  morning, 
having  decided  not  to  run  his  sedan  in  the  snow, 
and  "I  asking  him  how  they  are  getting  along  at 
his  house,  but  not  getting  much  out  of  him,  as 
would  be  natural,  for  a  man  of  his  standing  would 
not  be  likely  to  discuss  his  domestic  troubles  on 
the  street  car,  where  he  might  be  overheard  by 
by  a  lot  of  curious  people  who  have  not  got  to 


292  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

the  point  in  the  world  where  they  know  how  to 
mind  their  own  business  and  let  other  people  do 
the  same.  Clerks  in  my  place  beginning  to  ask 
if  they  can  have  an  afternoon  off  to  do  their 
Christmas  shopping  early,  and  I  letting  them  go, 
as  I  cannot  be  a  hard-boiled  slave  driver  all  the 
time,  but  must  be  human,  even  at  my  work, 
especially  when  everybody  is  talking  about  what 
they  are  going  to  give  and  get  for  Christmas, 
many  of  them  probably  not  knowing  what 
Christmas  means.  Polly  was  downtown  again 
to-day,  leaving  Ellen  with  the  children,  and  Ellen 
is  going  to-morrow.  Between  them  I  suppose 
they  will  break  Fred  and  me,  but  Christmas  is 
coming  and  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing 
that  I  will  not  throw  away  money  on  fool- 
ishness. 

Dec.  21. — Charley  Quinn  blowing  into  my 
place  to-day  and  asking  what  I  knew  about 
salary  increases  the  first  of  the  year,  but  getting 
nothing  out  of  me,  I  merely  intimating  that  I 
knew  about  what  was  coming  to  the  more 
important  department  heads,  but  knew  nothing 
at  all  about  him.  He  failed  to  get  the  point,  but 
laughed  and  went  on  out,  probably  feeling  that 
I  would  ask  him  how  it  feels  to  be  a  little  frog 
in  a  big  pond  again  after  being  the  whole  works 
for  a  few  days.  This  evening  telling  the  children 
a  good  deal  about  Christmas,  and  Louise  writing 
a  letter  to  Santa  Claus  which  makes  the  $8 


December  293 

limit  on  presents  for  her  and  Conrad  a  little 
small.  Saying  something  about  it  to  Polly,  and 
saying  that  she  had  a  new  coat  for  Louise  which 
cost  three  times  $8,  but  clothes  are  different,  so 
I  saying  nothing,  as  the  coat  is  bought.  Polly 
also  saying  that  she  had  ordered  a  Christmas 
tree  from  the  grocer  and  would  I  get  decorations 
for  it?  I  suppose  the  chief  has  decided  not  to 
spoil  my  Christmas  with  his  news,  not  knowing 
that  I  am  man  enough  not  to  worry. 

Dec.  22. — Out  shopping  this  noon  for  some 
ornaments  for  the  Christmas  tree  and  getting 
into  a  crowd  of  shoppers  and  wondering  where 
all  the  money  came  from.  Buying  about  all  that 
I  could  get  my  hands  on,  as  I  figured  that  since 
Polly  had  got  the  tree  the  least  I  could  do  was  to 
see  that  it  is  fitted  up  to  look  like  a  real  Christmas 
tree,  so  spending  $4.35  on  knicknacks  for  it, 
including  electric  lights,  which  will  do  for 
another  year  and  should  not  be  charged  against 
this  tree  alone,  but  only  depreciation.  Telling 
Polly  about  it  this  evening  and  getting  the 
packages  from  the  porch,  where  I  hid  them  when 
I  came  home,  and  she  saying  that  it  was  money 
well  spent,  as  there  are  several  items  in  Louise's 
list  which  she  will  have  to  do  without,  including 
a  doll's  bed  and  bureau,  and  Conrad  will  have 
to  do  without  a  few  things,  too,  including  an 
electric  train  and  track,  and  a  kiddy  car,  which 
he  can  just  as  well  do  without  until  spring. 


294  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

I  was  tempted  to  say  that  perhaps  we  had 
better  do  a  little  better,  but  I  am  nothing  if  not 
firm  in  my  decisions,  so  we  will  economize  this 
Christmas  and  not  squander  hard-earned  and 
much-needed  money. 

Dec.  23. — Nearly  everybody  at  my  pla*ce  ask- 
ing to  go  shopping  for  an  hour  or  two  to-day, 
and,  although  the  children  coughed  a  good  deal 
last  night,  causing  me  to  lose  a  lot  of  sleep, 
which  always  clouds  my  otherwise  even  and 
quiet  temper,  I  mastered  my  temptation  to 
announce  that  there  would  be  nothing  but  hard 
work  around  the  place,  and  let  the  clerks  run  in 
and  out.  It  is  none  of  my  business  if  they  insist 
upon  throwing  their  money  away  like  that,  but 
it  shows  that  they  will  never  get  any  place  in 
the  world,  not  having  the  thrift  habit.  The 
chief  stepping  in  and  seeing  that  the  place  looked 
as  if  some  one  had  said  it  was  infected  with 
smallpox,  but  saying  nothing,  as  I  guess  he  has 
come  to  the  conclusion  that  I  know  everything 
he  has  in  his  mind  and  am  letting  up  accord- 
ingly. Looking  the  Christmas  tree  over  this 
evening  and  wishing  to-morrow  night  were  here 
so  I  could  show  my  skill  as  a  decorator.  Polly 
showing  the  children's  presents  to  me  and  saying 
nothing  about  how  few  they  were,  but  hinting 
at  it,  but  I  saying  nothing,  as  I  have  spent  my 
last  cent  on  Christmas  and  will  be  glad  when  it 
is  over. 


December  295 

Dec.  24. — The  children  better  last  night,  so 
I  was  thinking  a  little  about  them  to-day  and 
deciding  that  I  would  slip  out  during  the  after- 
noon and  buy  them  a  little  candy  or  something; 
but  at  noon  the  chief  came  around  and  said  to 
let  everybody  go,  as  they  probably  would  like 
to  get  ready  for  Christmas,  so  I  doing 
some  shopping,  Christmas  coming  only  once  a 
year,  and  buying  the  bed  and  bureau  for  Louise, 
and  also  a  fine  doll  and  two  smaller  ones,  also 
a  fine  electric  railroad  for  Conrad,  with  trains, 
stations,  and  everything,  which  I  can  run  for  him, 
and  a  kiddy  car,  drum,  horn,  pistol,  and  several 
other  trinkets,  as  well  as  a  tie  for  Fred  and  a 
wrist  watch  for  Ellen,  and,  remembering  that 
Polly  spoke  of  her  clothes  being  run  down,  buying 
her  a  $75  dress,  and  not  trusting  to  any  delivery 
system  this  late  in  the  day,  but  getting  a  taxi  and 
bringing  the  things  home  myself.  Finding 
Polly  and  the  children  upstairs,  so  making  them 
stay  there  till  I  got  everything  in  the  cellar,  as 
Christmas  comes  but  once  a  year  and  no  telling 
what  next  year  will  be  like.  Spending  the  evening 
fixing  the  tree  beside  the  fireplace,  where  every- 
thing is  now  ready  for  morning. 

Dec.  25. — Up  at  three  this  morning,  as  Louise 
was  so  curious  last  night  that  I  was  afraid  she 
would  get  at  the  tree  this  morning  without  wak- 
ing us.  Rousing  Polly,  but  she  would  not  let 
me  disturb  the  children,  as  they  need  the  sleep, 


296  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

so  fixing  the  furnace  to  have  the  house  warm 
and  darkening  the  living  room,  except  for  a 
few  coals  in  the  fireplace,  and  waiting  till  I 
thought  it  was  about  noon;  but  it  was  only  a 
little  after  five  when  Louise  started  pattering 
around  upstairs,  so  I  rushing  up  and  waking 
Polly  and  Conrad  and  bringing  all  downstairs. 
At  first  Louise  thought  Santa  hadn't  come,  but  I 
told  her  to  try  the  light  switch,  which  she  did, 
lighting  up  the  tree,  and  a  prettier  sight  no  one 
ever  saw,  and  no  one  can  say  that  I  did  not  do 
the  right  thing  by  the  children.  Spending  most 
of  the  day  running  the  railroad  for  Conrad,  he 
being  too  small  to  run  toys  like  that,  but  liking  to 
look  at  them.  Ellen  was  happy  over  her  wrist 
watch,  and  Polly  liked  her  dress,  but  will  exchange 
it  next  week.  As  for  me,  I  got  four  ties  and 
tackle  box,  the  kind  I  wanted  but  forgot  to  get 
for  myself,  though  I  may  have  mentioned  it  to 
Fred  one  day. 

Dec.  26. — The  Christmas  presents  still  going 
big  to-day,  we  having  to  darken  the  room  about 
every  hour  and  light  the  tree  to  make  sure  it  is 
still  there.  Conrad  insisted  on  trying  to  pull 
some  of  the  ornaments  off",  pulling  the  tree  over 
on  himself,  but  not  getting  hurt.  Louise  is  as 
busy  with  her  dolls  and  their  furniture  as  Polly 
is  with  the  whole  house.  Conrad  and  I  playing 
most  of  the  day  with  railroad,  he  being  so 
anxious  to  find  out  how  it  runs  that  I  had  to 


December  297 

strap  him  in  his  chair  and  run  it  for  him,  learning 
a  lot  about  electricity  that  I  did  not  know,  and 
glad  I  got  the  present  for  him,  as  it  is  instructive 
as  well  as  entertaining,  Fred  having  almost  as 
much  fun  with  the  railroad  as  Conrad  did.  If  the 
children  did  not  get  excited  once  in  a  while  and 
have  to  cough  as  if  every  breath  was  their  last 
one,  they  would  be  as  happy  as  any  two  children 
would  be,  but  I  will  say  that  they  don't  seem  to 
mind  the  coughing  as  much  as  I  do.  Mrs. 
Walker  looking  in  the  window  and  I  feeling 
sorry  for  her,  having  no  children  of  her  own  and 
having  to  enjoy  Christmas  through  my  children. 
Dec.  27. — Leaving  all  well,  down  to  work  to 
find  every  one  acting  as  if  he  had  spent  a  strenu- 
ous Christmas,  some  having  what  looked  to  me 
like  a  hangover,  and  I  giving  a  few  orders  about 
getting  caught  up  by  the  first  of  the  year  and 
starting  out  with  a  clean  slate,  not  behind,  as  we 
were  last  year,  and  having  to  work  overtime 
and  Sundays  to  catch  up,  for  it  will  not  do  for 
my  subordinates  to  suspect  anything.  Christmas 
is  all  right,  and  a  man  should  have  all  the  fun  at 
that  time  that  he  can  afford  to  have,  but  when 
it  is  over  it  is  over,  and  I  made  that  pretty  plain 
to  everyone.  Starting  to  figure  out  where  I 
stand,  but  deciding  to  let  that  go  for  a  day  or 
two.  The  chief  into  my  place  with  a  little 
package — a  handkerchief  from  him  and  his  wife, 
but  he  did  not  know  what  it  was  till  I  opened  it, 


298  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

so  I  guess  Minnie  has  forgiven  me  if  the  chief 
has  not.  Showing  it  to  Polly  in  the  evening, 
and  she  saying  that  it  is  very  expensive  and  I 
should  put  it  away  to  wear  on  special  occasions, 
which  I  would  have  done  if  it  had  not  fallen  on  the 
floor,  where  Pep  got  it  and  tore  it  when  Louise 
tried  to  take  it  away  from  him,  as  any  good  dog 
would  do. 

Dec.  28. — Who  should  blow  in  to-day  but  Al 
Jackson,  looking  the  same  as  when  he  left,  only 
with  a  few  more  worry  wrinkles  in  his  brow. 
He  was  surely  glad  to  be  back  home,  and  I 
finally  got  the  truth  out  of  him — namely,  that 
he  ran  into  a  slick  bunch  out  there  and  after 
some  difficulty  managed  to  place  his  money  with 
them,  but  they  were  suddenly  called  home  by 
illness  in  the  family  or  something  and  he  was 
unable  to  locate  them  later  and  finally  found  out 
that  he  had  been  trimmed.  I  giving  him  some 
advice  about  staying  at  home  and  holding  on  to 
what  money  he  can  get  hold  of,  and  he  said  that 
he  was  through  fooling  around  and  was  glad  to 
get  his  old  job  back  the  first  of  the  year  and  to 
settle  down  to  try  to  get  as  far  ahead  in  the 
world  as  he  was  a  year  ago.  I  saying  nothing 
about  the  $100  I  sent  to  him,  as  a  man  should 
not  press  his  friends  for  money,  merely  intimating 
that  it  would  be  welcome  any  time  he  can  spare 
it,  as  I  have  heavy  investments  which  after  the 
first  of  the  year  generally  need  attention.  The 


December  299 

children  much  better  this  evening.  Polly  and 
I  talking  about  the  Jacksons,  who,  after  all,  are 
our  friends.  ' 

Dec.  29. — Turning  much  colder  overnight,  so 
I  was  a  little  late  to  work  this  morning,  having 
stayed  around  the  house  awhile  to  see  that  every- 
thing was  warm  and  snug.  Hardly  ever  am  I  late 
to  work.  That  has  been  one  of  the  secrets  of  my 
success  in  my  chosen  line  of  work — always  early 
on  the  job  and  seeing  that  everyone  gets  down 
to  work  and  keeps  at  it  all  day.  Jim  Wilkins  in  to 
talk  automobile  with  me,  he  probably  having 
nothing  else  to  do  this  time  of  year  but  keep 
in  touch  with  his  regular  customers,  and  I 
telling  him  that  from  the  way  things  look  now 
the  only  interest  the  automobile  business  has  in 
me  is  what  harm  I  can  do  to  it  by  selling  a  used 
car  to  some  one  who  might  have  bought  a  new 
one,  as  I  can  see  right  now  that  if  I  do  not 
count  the  money  sent  from  Oakcastle,  which  they 
could  not  get  out  of  sending  if  they  had  any 
conscience  at  all,  I  cannot  say  much  for  my 
finances  this  year,  but,  on  the  contrary,  counting 
the  Liberty  bonds  I  sold,  I  am  worse  off  than 
I  was  at  this  time  last  year,  and  my  prospects 
are  also  worse.  It  is  a  good  thing  that  I  am  not 
the  kind  to  worry  over  money  matters,  or  I 
would  be  depressed. 

Dec.  30. — The  thermometer  down  to  fifteen 
degrees  below  zero  to-day  and  this  evening  there 


300  Sam  Blick's  Diary 

was  a  piece  in  the  paper  about  the  cold  New- 
Year's  Day  being  in  1 864,  so  I  suppose  that  in 
that  argument  I  had  a  year  ago  with  John 
Hartman  he  was  right  and  I  was  wrong,  though 
I  doubt  if  he  knew  it,  probably  having  had  his 
mind  set  on  that  date  by  some  one.  To-day  the 
man  from  the  health  department  came  and  took 
the  whooping-cough  sign  off  the  door,  saying  that 
the  twenty-eight  days  have  passed  and  officially 
the  children  are  well,  which  is  far  from  the 
truth,  showing  that  it  is  time  we  had  some  new 
officials  in  this  town.  But  as  soon  as  the  sign 
went  down  several  neighbors  came  in  to  see  the 
children,  and  Polly  kidded  them  along  about 
the  children  being  well,  as  she  has  been  lonely 
for  the  company  of  some  of  her  friends  who  have 
shunned  the  house  as  if  we  had  leprosy.  Running 
the  electric  railroad  this  evening  after  Conrad 
went  to  bed  and  learning  more  about  it  all  the 
time.  Also  putting  my  tackle  in  my  new  tackle 
box,  which  is  the  best  of  the  kind  I  ever  saw,  and 
should  help  me  to  catch  the  fish  this  summer. 
Maybe  at  least  I  shall  have  lots  of  time  to  fish. 
Dec.  JJ. — This  is  the  last  day  of  the  year  and 
it  turned  out  to  be  the  best,  the  chief  dropping 
in  to-day  to  say  that  beginning  to-morrow  I 
would  be  his  assistant  at  $100  a  week,  as  he  is 
too  busy  to  attend  to  all  the  details  and  needs  a 
man  he  can  trust  to  take  charge  when  he  may  be 
called  away  to  look  after  other  plants  owned  by 


December  301 

the  same  company.  This  was  no  surprise  to  me, 
as  I  have  long  had  such  a  job  coming  to  me,  and 
I  was  right  not  to  worry  over  offending  the 
chief  in  a  personal  matter,  I  telling  him  that  I 
hope  he  bore  me  no  ill  will  for  firing  Minnie. 
He  laughing  heartily  and  saying  that  my  action 
had  forced  his  hand  and  made  him  realize  how 
much  he  cared.  He  was  frank  to  say  that  I 
was  responsible  for  their  happiness  and  that 
Minnie  realized  this,  too.  Now  I  suppose  that 
as  soon  as  my  promotion  is  known  I  will  have 
stock  and  automobile  and  real-estate  salesmen 
chasing  me,  thinking  that  I  will  have  a  lot  of 
surplus  money  to  spend,  which  is  not  the  case, 
but  next  year  I  intend  to  put  by  a  little  every 
week,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  have  a  lot 
more  money  than  many  men  making  twice  as 
much — though  probably  not  earning  it — have. 
Polly  and  I  sitting  up  till  after  midnight  talking 
about  it,  and  she  agreeing  that  I  did  a  good 
day's  work  when  I  brought  those  two  fine 
people,  although  not  quite  of  the  same  age, 
together. 


THE    END 


